


Let's Take A Break

by water_lili_es



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anniversary, Break Up, Breaking Up & Making Up, Established Relationship, Exes, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Back Together, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Not Cheating, Some Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:42:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26198794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_lili_es/pseuds/water_lili_es
Summary: “Should we let them know we’re here?” Felix asked. Seungmin had gotten back to his work, Jeongin and Hyunjin helping him out on the floor. Chan and Changbin were still by the door, relaying what was too soft to be heard throughout the room.Jeongin shook his head, a twinge of fear in his eyes. “Then they’ll know we’ve been here the whole time. The last thing I want is a papercut to the ribs.”“But I’m hungry.” Felix sighed. He should double-think his refusal to bring food in his room.“They’ll get through this, right?” Chan asked. He was seated on the chair now, Changbin by his feet.Hyunjin shrugged, leaned against the foot of Felix’s bed and the Atlas opened on his lap. “They have to, they’re Minho and Jisung.”He said it as if it was a fact; which it was, in some ways.“But what if they don’t?” Seungmin asked under his breath but still loud enough for the others to hear.Felix’s room is silent after that, the only sounds being Hyunjin flipping through the pages of the Atlas and Seungmin scribbling on paper. The air inside the room was as heavy as the air outside, where a storm was far from calming.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 57
Kudos: 253
Collections: Minsung





	1. Chapter 1

High school was hectic. It was filled with immature kids and an avalanche of school work. There was the status quo and the need to make your way up. There was also the unspoken but ever-present desire to live out a grand, romantic, and especially cheesy love story with the person you’d eventually live happily ever after with.

Minho and Jisung had that. They had that awkward acquaintanceship that was made up of mutual friends and the dense feelings and the long and tiresome mutual pining until senior year came and Jisung felt like putting his life on the line finally asked Minho out.

Their relationship went easy after that, from almost-friends to loving boyfriends. The high from the new relationship lasted months longer than their friends would have liked but seeing the happy faces on the two boys made up for it.

That was high school. College was surprisingly a lot more workload, especially with finals rolling around. It was unattached teachers and even more unattached lectures which made up for harder reviewing. It was all-nighters running on coffee and full days running on energy drinks and less time to go on weekly dates with the love of your life.

But they made it work. With the same group of friends— growing from 3 to 6— and going to the same university, Minho and Jisung still saw each other almost every day.

It’s been two months since they’ve had a proper date, though. The semester was about to end, which meant piles of last-minute work to attend to; and Minho was practically recluse.

He’d be holed up in his room drowning on paperwork, or deep in the library doing research. If not either of the two, then he’d be locked inside the dance studio trying to perfect an already stellar routine.

Dates with Jisung have been thrown out of the window weeks ago.

Sometimes it would be Jisung who’d postpone their dates. He had his own workload, too, and it always made him feel heavy whenever he’d tell Minho that they couldn’t go out because he had stuff to do. God knows that Jisung would very much rather spend the day with his boyfriend but deadlines were demanding and he couldn’t drop everything for Minho even if he really wanted to.

Minho understood every single time. Just like how Jisung always understood that Minho was busy and that when the break comes in a week then they’d spend all their time together again.

Jeongin desperately hoped that the only break coming was their first semestrial break of college.

“Hey, do any of you know when the last time Minho and Jisung went out was?” Jeongin asked from where he was seated on the apartment’s sofa with Hyunjin. Changbin and Felix were behind them in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee for the two of them. They were Jeongin, Hyunjin, and Seungmin’s shared apartment. Jisung, Chan, and Changbin lived in the apartment across, so that meant Felix and Minho— who shared an apartment two streets away, were in this building more than theirs’s.

“Now that I think about it, it’s been a couple of months since they had proper alone time.” Felix said. “Minho and Chan have been the busiest of us all, though.”

The four of them were the only ones with nothing to do at the moment. Seungmin had left early in the morning for a class and was most likely coming back in a few minutes. Minho and Chan have yet to make an appearance at all, but the two were probably busy.

Jisung left half an hour ago to go to a group meeting and the boy’s departure was what made Jeongin wonder in the first place. He realized that it’s been a while since the two went on a date.

Hyunjin, seeing Jeongin deep in thought, chuckled and reached across the couch to ruffle his hair. “Don’t worry about it; that just means Felix will be kicked out of his room once break comes.”

Felix scoffs in exaggerated disbelief. “ _Excuse me?_ Why am _I_ getting kicked out?”

A few conversations from months ago knock on Felix’s head but he blinks them away.

“Because they’ll finally move in together like a normal couple and Minho and your two-person apartment is the perfect space for them.” Changbin answered immediately. He calmly took a sip of his coffee. “Besides, the walk between this building to your’s might as well be the most space us friends can give them.”

“It’s a ten minute walk.” Hyunjin deadpanned. He and Jeongin were turned to the two on the kitchen, watching them down the coffee as if it was iced water.

“I know but we’re never there anyway. We’re always here since only Minho and Felix don’t live here.” Changbin shrugged. “And we’re always together so being ten minutes away every night will be the most space we can give the couple at all.”

Hyunjin and Jeongin nod in understanding whilst Felix eyes Changbin in suspicion. “Why do you talk as if it’s already been thought through?”

The door bursts open before Changbin can answer and Seungmin walks inside, dropping his bag by the dining table and running around the apartment. “I need a map! I need an Atlas!”

They watch Seungmin throw his bedroom door open and Hyunjin leans forward to prop his elbows on his knees so that he can sneak a peak of Seungmin making a mess of his already untidy room.

“You have a project due?” Changbin asks as Felix takes the mug of coffee from him to steal a gulp.

“No!” Seungmin says before he’s out of his bedroom and back in the living room. “Yes? I don’t know.”

“What?” Hyunjin asks as Seungmin sits between Hyunjin and Jeongin. Changbin and Felix stay where they’re stood in the kitchen, refusing to part from the coffee machine.

“My son of a bitch professor is demanding a creative output of the world and I’m pretty sure the subject isn’t even geography.” Seungmin groaned.

Jeongin jumps to his feet excitedly. “I have a globe. Would that help?”

Seungmin looks at Jeongin’s bright smile before sighing. “You’re an angel.”

“I’ll go get it!” Jeongin said as he entered the only room that wasn’t on the south side of the apartment but west, next to the bathroom. The youngest was pretty adamant about having the room nearest the bathroom and his housemates didn’t have the heart to object.

The four boys hear a small crash from inside Jeongin’s room. Hyunjin and Felix involuntarily flinch at the sound. They figured that Jeongin tripped over his own feet.

“What subject is this for?” Changbin asked. Finals were in three days, so he didn’t see the need to dump another requirement on the students. After the two day tests, they were free for the next three weeks.

Seungmin threw his head back on the couch, groaning loudly. It was clear that even speaking the subject’s name left a bitter taste in his mouth. Before he can answer, Jeongin comes back from his room, jumping back on the couch to sit next to Seungmin.

“Here you go!” Jeongin grinned as he slapped a small item on the palm of Seungmin’s hand. Seungmin’s grateful smile instantly drops as he stares down at the small globe, not seeing Changbin’s, Felix’s, and Hyunjin’s confused expressions.

“ _This_ is your globe?” Seungmin asked as he examined the small globe that was maybe as big as his closed fist. He swiped his thumb across the globe, slightly amused to see it move.

“Uh-huh.” Jeongin nodded before pointing under the stand of the small globe to show a hole with a blade inside. “It’s a sharpener, too.”

The four boys’ shoulders drop collectively, entertained by the youngest’s puerility. Felix let out a laugh as Hyunjin reached over to spin the pencil sharpener globe and Seungmin sighs at Jeongin’s smile. Changbin is the first to notice the apartment door swing open, and seeing the defeated and frustrated look on Jisung’s face, he decided to pour the boy a mug of coffee.

“You’re back early.” Hyunjin says when Jisung sits on the one-seater on the side of the couch.

Jisung exhaled, clearly troubled. “I wasn’t in the mood for projects anymore.”

“Why?” Felix asked. When Jisung left, he was fine. The look on his face now was far from it and it’s barely been an hour since Jisung left.

“Minho.” Jisung sighed as Changbin handed him a mug of coffee. He blew on the hot drink, giving Changbin and Felix time to sit on the armrest of the one-seater and the floor between the coffee table and Jeongin’s feet respectively. “He cancelled on me _again_. And it’s our _anniversary_ today. We were going to have dinner at that restaurant that needs a month-long reservation. That’s not even my problem! I just want to spend time with my boyfriend.”

“Oh, Jisung.” Changbin patted Jisung’s back comfortingly. He, Felix, and Seungmin were the mutual friends that watched the two first fall in love. At the back of their minds, they expected a grand date for the couple’s first year anniversary.

Jisung sighs again. “Is it really too much to ask for?”

“No, of course not.” Felix says with his knees raised to his chest. “It sucks, yeah, but Minho has been plenty busy recently. I don’t even know when the last time I woke up before he left was.”

“Why don’t you go over to him and surprise him with an anniversary lunch, hmm? I’m sure he’d appreciate take-out from that Chinese place he likes.” Jeongin suggested with a small smile.

Hyunjin nodded. “Yeah! He should be at the dance studio all afternoon. We all know he’d forget to eat.”

“And hey, Chinese take-out may not be as fancy as French fine-dining, but as long as you’re together, right?” Seungmin added.

Changbin patted Jisung shoulder. “And maybe whilst you’re there, you can convince him to take the night off and go on that date you two so rightfully deserve.”

“That... sounds like a good idea.” Jisung agreed as he quickly gulped down the thankfully not searing hot coffee. He placed it on the coffee table and jumped to his feet; smile once again on his face. “I’ll see you guys later!”

* * *

Minho was tired. He’s growing tired of the song playing over and over in the background and he’s growing tired of watching his reflection dance the same steps over and over again. He was tired and wanted more than four hours of sleep. More than that, he wanted to spend time with Jisung, who he misses despite still seeing each other almost every day.

“Minho!” a cheery voice cuts through the music and Minho staggers mid-spin. His dance partner, Chaeryeong, catches him before he can slam on the floor, to which he gives her a grateful nod before he focuses his attention to the boy who was making his way to the side on the mirrored wall to sit on the floor, placing a big gym bag next to him.

“Jisung, what are you doing here?” Minho stays where he’s stood, unlike Chaeryeong who makes her way to her phone to cut the music. Minho almost sighs in relief.

Jisung smiles brightly at the boy before proceeding to open the gym bag, taking out tupperwares of food that Jisung transferred from take-out boxes. “I figured you haven’t eaten yet so I thought I’d bring you some lunch. It’s about time you take a break, too.”

“Jisung...” Minho started but Chaeryeong spoke first, looking through her phone.

“Well, since Jisung is here, that means I can join Yeji for lunch.” she says as she begins to pack her things. Jisung ignored the way she says his name. She passes Minho a glance as she walks to the door. “An hour good?”

“Yeah.” Minho reluctantly agreed before Chaeryeong steps out of the dance studio.

Jisung and Minho are left alone and Minho still hasn’t made a move. Jisung smiles again and pats the spot next to him. “Come sit.”

Minho relents, a small smile curving his lips as he sits next to his boyfriend. He cups Jisung’s cheeks, squeezing softly. “You’re sweet, babe.”

Jisung moves his face away from Minho’s hands, laughing softly. “I just missed you, is all.”

“I missed you, too.” Minho says with a tired sigh. He watched Jisung set up the small picnic, trying to remember the last time they were alone like this. It must have been months.

“Well, we’re together now so that’s okay.” Jisung concluded before feeding Minho a dumpling. The older opens his mouth and lets Jisung feed him, chewing appreciatively. “Are you and Chaeryeong almost done?”

“I hope so.” Minho groaned. “We’ve been at this for a month now, you’d think we’d have the routine perfected already.”

“Clearly not enough to go to dinner with me.” Jisung says under his breath. The thought of Minho spending more time with Chaeryeong than with him didn’t completely sit well with Jisung. He always got the feeling that Chaeryeong didn’t like him very well, so naturally the girl made him uncomfortable.

Minho hears the quiet whisper, however, and his eyes narrow in both question and warning. “Jisung.”

Jisung sighs. He knows trying to change the subject was useless, especially when they were both worn out and subconsciously looking for something or someone to snap at. “I’m just saying, is it really too much to ask one night from you? Babe, it’s our anniversary.”

“I know that, Jisung.” Minho says, voice stern. “But you know how much I have on my plate. You’re busy as hell, too.”

Finals were at the end of the week, which meant deadlines were harsher than ever. Minho doesn’t know why he doesn’t seem to have time to breathe these days but he also didn’t understand why Jisung was talking as if he didn’t have his own things to do.

“I know, and I am.” Jisung stated. His eyes were narrowed like Minho’s were, a sign that the couple would rather not fight but neither wanted to back out. “But I still make time for you. Only to be shot down. Every. Single. Time.”

“Look, I’m sorry if I have _things to do_ , Jisung.” Minho replies, feeling tired once again. “But I thought you understood.”

Minho’s tone wasn’t as sharp and snappy as it was earlier, now bordering on exasperation and prostration more than anything else. He was exhausted and he knew Jisung was, too. He knew that Jisung hasn’t slept any better than he has these past weeks, being pulled every which way to make deadlines.

“I thought I did, too, but maybe I don’t.” Jisung scoffed. Hurt flashed through his eyes at the confession but he made no move to acknowledge it. If Minho can understand his busy schedule, then why can’t he understand Minho’s? “I don’t understand why you can’t even give me an hour.”

Minho looked at Jisung before lifting himself off the floor. “Did you come here to argue, Jisung?”

As much as he wanted to spend time with Jisung, he didn’t want to do it arguing. Minho would much rather not see Jisung at all today if it meant he was going to think of the younger with longingness instead of irritation.

Jisung scoffed again, this time in disbelief. “No! I wanted to see you, but maybe I shouldn’t have if I knew you were going to be a little bitch.”

“Yeah, well, I think you should leave.” Minho says as he takes a water bottle from his bag. Jisung realized that Minho could have drank from the water bottle he set in front of Minho, but he was clearly being petty right now.

Jisung could be petty, too. He starts to pack up the food he brought. “Fine. I’ll go.”

The room is bathed in a tense silence as Jisung cleans up and Minho finishes the bottle of water. When Jisung stands to leave, he spares Minho a last look and sees the boy wiping his face of sweat. He shakes his head at the boy before he leaves, slamming the door a little on his way out.

Minho sighs when the door closes, flinching slightly at the force Jisung used.

He sighed. He’ll talk to him later.

* * *

Jisung was seated on Minho and Felix’s living room, waiting for Minho to come home. He concluded that talking here was more suitable than his apartment because he doubted that Minho would go see him anytime soon. And even if he did, the other building wasn’t as private as this one since most of them lived there. He only hoped that Felix didn’t come home and catch them arguing.

He didn’t know what time Minho was going to be home, especially since he said he was going to be busy in the studio today, but Jisung prided himself in knowing Minho enough to know that he won’t be able to sit still when they’ve fought.

But Jisung didn’t want to argue, so when the door opened and Minho came in, his shoulders slumped. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Minho greets him. He goes to where Jisung is and places his bag on the sofa next to Jisung before going to the fridge.

Jisung sighed as he watched Minho. “I thought you’d finish late.”

“I wanted to talk to you.” he said as he poured himself a glass of water. Jisung prevented himself from rolling his eyes because Minho _can_ take a break and go to him. He decided not to get himself worked up over it. If he and Minho made up now, they can still catch their dinner reservation. “I was about to head to your apartment but you’re here so there’s no need.”

Jisung nodded. “Can we forget about earlier? I know you’re tired and stressed and—“

“Wait, wait, wait.” Minho said slowly and tentatively. He placed the glass on the dining table with a firm click. He looked at Jisung in masked criticism. “Jisung, I was going to give _you_ a chance to apologize to me.”

Jisung blinks as he stands to properly face Minho, the corners of his lips turned down in a frown. “Why do I have to apologize?”

He felt annoyed all over again. He wanted to blame Minho’s attitude on his fatigue but he was wiped out himself. He did nothing wrong and he was _not_ going to apologize for having Minho snap at him.

There’s a silence as they stare at each other. Minho’s jaw tightens as his frustration fails to abate itself. He genuinely wanted to make up with Jisung but he wasn’t going to back out without a fight. So he scoffed. “You don’t think barging into the studio and picking a fight deserves an apology?”

Jisung scoffed despite the urge to burst out laughing. He couldn’t _believe_ that Minho was pissed at _him_. “You think I wanted to argue with you today? Jesus Christ, Minho! We’ve barely seen each other for weeks, was it so wrong for me to drop by? Well, I’m sorry if I went out of my way to make time for you!”

Minho exhaled through his noose, now equally as angry as Jisung was. “I didn’t tell you to go and do that. And did you think you can somehow convince me to push through with dinner tonight? When I already told you that I was busy.”

“Well you’re here now, aren’t you?!” Jisung yelled, rolling his eyes at the older. His head was pounding and he needed something cold to stop the mental throbbing. He was seriously pissed at Minho for his attitude and Jisung was letting go of steam he didn’t know he had built up within him.

Tears welled behind Jisung’s eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was because of frustration or because of the realization that he and Minho were fighting after weeks of not spending time together and on their anniversary, no less. “I mean, if all it took to see you was an argument then I should have snapped weeks ago!”

“Oh, so this is my fault?!”

“Is it mine?!”

Minho’s jaw clicks to the side. He huffs, taking his water glass and leaving it in the sink. He sighs, back facing Jisung as he gripped the ends of the sink. “Why don’t we take a break?”

Jisung nods, going to the door where his coat was hanging. “Yeah, okay. Let’s take a break. Let’s head out for ice-cream or iced coffee.”

“No, Jisung.” Minho’s breathing is heavy and he can feel his shoulders start to shake. He refused to look up at the boy. “I meant a break from us.”

Jisung’s heart drops as well as his arms, his coat half-hanging off his shoulders. He couldn’t believe his ears, but maybe he was hearing things. “What? You’re seriously not breaking up with me, are you, Minho?”

The inhale Minho takes is shaky. He looks up, glossy eyes shaking just as much as he takes in Jisung’s look of scared consternation. Minho gulps. “I think I am, Jisung.”

It’s silent again.

Minho and Jisung stare at each other in a painful silence. Their teary eyes were unsure and questioning, disbelief hiding behind their irises. Jisung was asking Minho to take it back whilst Minho was asking Jisung to protest.

They were too heartbroken to do either.

With a silent sob, Jisung his coat. “I should go.”

“Yeah.” Minho croaked, looking down again so that Jisung won’t see the tears that started to stream down his cheeks. Jisung’s tears don’t fall until the door clicks shut behind him, along with a short weep that sounded muffled through the closed door, but broke Minho’s heart all the same.

When Jisung reaches the lobby of his apartment building, his tears have refused to fall save for the first dozen that trailed down his cheeks outside of Minho’s apartment. A big part of him couldn’t believe what Minho said— what Minho did. No, it can’t be real. The sting in his heart said otherwise.

Maybe the both of them should have expected for this to happen sooner or later. Even when they were in the same university, with the same friends, the past weeks still felt like they were in a long-distance relationship. Neither of them were good at handling distance, which was why they were in the same university in the first place.

He liked to think that they were stronger than that, but maybe they weren’t. Maybe the distance really broke them.

“Jisung, are you alright?” a voice says when the elevator doors open in front of Jisung. The voice was its natural soft-spoken tone that Jisung recognized almost immediately.

The girl steps out of the elevator and gives Jisung a warm smile as she places a hand on his arm comfortingly. Jisung wasn’t crying but he knew he looked as broken as a shattered plate.

Minho once compared Jisung’s heart to be as precious as fine china. Apparently it was just as fragile.

“Is something wrong?” she asked as the elevator doors shut behind her. She was frowning, unconsciously mirroring the expression on his face a subtly as she could. “You look sad.”

He was more than sad, but he didn’t see the point of correcting the girl, so he only sighed. He didn’t think she’d be the first to know, but a small part of him hoped that if he spoke the words out loud, then the universe would hear how _wrong_ it sounded and take it back so that everything was back to normal.

“Minho and I broke up. I think.” he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Lia visibly softened at the crack in Jisung’s voice, taking half a step closer to hug the boy. He felt her rubbing circles on his back but he only stood there and let the unbelievably bitter aftertaste of the words linger in his tongue until he slightly choked at the awful taste.

“Hey, hey.” she comforted, though it was clear that she herself was having difficulty processing the news. She’d never thought that she’d see the day that the couple would break up, and it baffled her that it had come almost half a year since she’s met them.

Somehow like how Chaeryeong disliked Jisung, Minho also wasn’t particularly fond of Lia. Unlike Chaeryeong, though, who simply didn’t like Jisung for reasons no one but herself knew, Minho had a reason for his hesitance to get along with the girl. The first month of college, Lia confessed that she had a crush on Jisung, and as petty as Minho was, never let go of the issue even after Lia had moved on from her acute infatuation.

“How about some ice-cream? Would that make you feel better?” Lia asked him, giving him a small smile that she hoped was comforting.

Minho never forbade him from seeing the girl, but he wasn’t shy on voicing his displeasure whenever Jisung went out with her; but he understood that she was a friend and that Jisung liked her company every once in a while. He was a petty man and everyone knew that. And Jisung loved that about Minho, because it showed Jisung that Minho loved him and didn’t like that other people liked him as more than a friend.

Jisung is suddenly aware of the throbbing in his head. The same throbbing that he thought he was getting rid of when Minho proposed a break. Jisung whimpered as Lia broke the hug.

“Ice-cream sounds nice.” he said with a small sniffle.

* * *

When Felix gets home an hour and a half later, it’s to an unwashed glass on the sink and Minho seated at the dining table. The older was looking at the back of the sofa distractedly and even though his eyes were still, it was clear that his thoughts were in the middle of a train wreck. Felix could see tear stains on his cheeks as well as fresh ones about to leave his eyes.

He didn’t expect to come home to Minho. He figured that he’d either be at the dance studio or on a date with Jisung. Seeing Minho home was alarming enough, seeing him looking as dejected and nonplussed as he did made Felix worry.

Something was wrong, Felix could tell the moment he closed the door behind him.

“Minho?” Felix asked cautiously. He sat down next to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly to make the other look at him. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Minho’s eyes leave the back of the sofa. He was wondering what would happen if he hadn’t found Jisung there, waiting for him to come home. He blinks, slowly, trying to decipher if the confusion in Felix’s eyes were Felix’s or it were a reflection of his own. “Jisung and I fought today.”

“Oh.” Felix exhales, tentative. The couple wasn’t stranger to quarrels but Felix can see that this was different. He waited for Minho to tell him more, hoping he could help the older feel lighter.

Minho’s voice cracked when he spoke and that was when the tears wouldn’t stop coming. “And then I-I broke up with him.”

“Oh.” Felix repeats before his eyes widen and he pulls Minho into his arms. “Oh, no.”

Minho’s shoulders start to shake for the second time that night as he breaks down in Felix’s embrace. Felix shushed him as gently as he can. He pulls Minho closer, not knowing what to do to comfort his friend. This has never happened before and Felix’s specialty was getting Minho to talk to Jisung after an argument.

Even if Felix thought of trying to talk Minho into talking to Jisung to work things out between them, he had a strong feeling that Minho didn’t need any convincing.

“F-Felix, I...” Minho cried, his fingers curled on Felix’s shirt tightly. “I didn’t m-mean to, it was a mistake.”

“I know, Minho. I know.” Felix cooed consolingly. “Talk to him, okay? But not tonight. The both of you have had a hell of a day and there’s a chance you’ll end up fighting again if you talk now.”

Minho only nodded as he continued to cry. He didn’t trust himself right now to make a decision by himself, especially when the last decision he made was asking Jisung for a break.

The thought of Jisung with someone else was so painful that more tears fell down from Minho’s red-rimmed eyes. It felt wrong, to not be with Jisung. He felt suffocated, but this was his fault. He wasn’t thinking straight and he and Jisung were arguing and he just wanted the back-and-forth to _stop_.

No, no. This was wrong. He needed to apologize to Jisung. He needed to talk to the love of his life and tell him how much he means to Minho and how much Minho loves him and that he was stupid for even thinking of breaking up with Jisung.

“Jisung.” Minho sobbed into Felix’s shoulder repeatedly, almost not feeling the circles being rubbed on his back and almost not hearing the verbiage that was being whispered to him.

Minho falls asleep after half an hour of crying, his body shutting down in a way only the loss of Jisung can trigger; schoolwork can never get him to black out. Once Felix had tucked Minho in his bed and left his room, Felix realized that he’s shed a few tears of his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! i'm so excited for this hhhhh i already have everything drafted so it's only a matter of proofreading chapters *^^*
> 
> tell me your thoughts down in the comments ((kudos are also appreciated!!)) or on my [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/water_lili_es) or visit my [twitter](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93) for more stories!! *^^*


	2. Chapter 2

Jisung and Lia ended up at the park after an hour in the ice-cream parlor with iced coffees in hand. Jisung ended up with a brain freeze but he supposed that that was better because the throbbing in his head finally disappeared.

The park was between crowded and empty. It wasn’t very late in the night but it was a reasonable time to head to bed if there wasn’t anything else to do. Jisung could almost picture his friends either in the library cramming or heading for bed.

The weather was warm but not enough to be uncomfortable. It brought a perfect feeling of walking around and passing the time idly. The afternoon sun was also exceptional earlier, now that Jisung thought about it. He didn’t think he’d be spending the night of his anniversary heartbroken at the park, though.

Like the darling that she is, Lia didn’t pry for details, but did make sure that Jisung knew that he can come to her if he needed to talk to someone. She didn’t ask what happened and Jisung was thankful for that, because he himself had no idea either.

As much as Jisung wanted to call Minho petty for disliking Lia, he knew why. He also knew that if it was the other way around, if a perfectly kind and down to earth girl liked Minho, he’d hold a smidge of resentment for the girl even after she’s proven multiple times that she’s gotten over her crush on Minho.

They were possessive of each other; it came with the relationship, but neither minded. Jisung liked how Minho would smother him after he comes out of a class he shared with Lia, or how Minho would pout at him when he’d say he was going to hang out with the girl. It never went as far as preventing Jisung from seeing his friend, only extra hugs and kisses and a few whines that were more than welcomed.

But that wasn’t going to happen anymore. They were broken up.

Maybe it was the overwhelming realization seeping in as every minute passed, but the more that it processed in Jisung head that he and Minho have broken up, the more he found similarities between Minho and Lia.

There weren’t a lot, but there were some. Like how they’d both scrape the sides of their ice-cream cup and work their way in, or how they both refused to use a straw even when their iced coffee was freezing and the ice made their lips numb. Jisung liked how both of them laughed with their eyes.

Lia reminded him of Minho for some reason. They were almost nothing alike, but maybe it was just Jisung hurting. He supposed he was going to be hurting for a long, long time.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Lia whispered when she realized that the boy she was next to had tears prickling the corners of his eyes. “I’m sure things will work out between you and Minho.”

“I don’t know.” he sighed. Every beat of his heart was painful. Even in the company of someone else, he couldn’t take his mind off of Minho and the words he said that he was sure broke both of them. “Maybe it was a long time coming.”

Lia frowned at the boy next to her on the bench. She didn’t know how to comfort him. She always assumed that the couple would get married the moment they graduate from college and have a happy family together. Seeing Jisung now, she felt silly for assuming such. “What do you mean?”

“Long-distance doesn’t work for everyone.” Jisung says with a surly laugh. Seeing Lia’s furrowed brows, he begins to explain. “We’ve been distant lately. We’ve both been busy with finals and deadlines and I guess today we just... snapped.”

“We see each other almost every day but...” Jisung pauses to take a breath, feeling his heart start to become impossibly heavy. “but we never get to spend time together anymore; nothing more than seeing each other for lunch with the others or somehow ending up in the same apartment during our free time and hanging out because of chance. And maybe I’m tired of having a relationship with his answering machine, and I’m sure he’s tired of all the postponed dates and...”

Lia squeezes Jisung’s shoulder, using her other hand to reach up Jisung’s cheek and wipe his tears away. “You two love each other, though. Right?”

There wasn’t an ulterior motive hiding behind the question. Contrary to popular belief, Lia had no intentions of wedging herself between Jisung and Minho, even if they were already broken up. She really has moved on from her schoolgirl crush on Jisung and was only asking as a friend, wanting to make him see that there was still a chance for them to fix this.

If she held even a tincture of resentment towards Minho, she kept it to herself. She wouldn’t understand the boy at all, nor does she expect to, but she knows that Jisung doesn’t deserve a break-up in place of an anniversary, and neither does Minho.

“Of course, we love each other.” Jisung croaks out, feeling another tear roll down his eye, which Lia wipes away as well. “But it’s tiring. And maybe he did this for me, not him. Maybe he realized that I wasn’t going to wait for him forever.”

“Are you, though?” Lia asked. “Going to wait for him forever?”

Jisung didn’t even have to think twice when he nodded. “I will. I’ll wait for him forever. But sometimes it feels like I’m waiting for nothing. And now... now that we’re broken up, maybe the best I can hope for is wait for the day we either get back together or...”

Jisung’s voice cracks. The thought was impossible, he knows that. “or we move on from each other.”

Lia nodded at him, squeezing his shoulder again before pulling away from Jisung’s space. He felt colder now that she pulled away, but he didn’t pay it any mind. He closed his eyes, letting new tears fall down his face before opening them again.

“I’m sure everything will work out in the end, Jisung.” she said encouragingly. She hoped that Jisung didn’t hear her words as verbiage because she truly believed that Jisung and Minho couldn’t stay broken up for long. It was the main reason why she took it upon herself to get over her crush on Jisung in the first place.

Jisung turned to look at her and tried to mimic her smile, nodding to himself. “I hope so.”

“Maybe talk to him tomorrow?” she suggested as Jisung sipped on his iced coffee. “He’d have cooled off by then and you two will be able to talk properly. I may not be very close to either of you, but I’ve seen enough to know that you two are soulmates.”

“We are, aren’t we?” Jisung said, his smile growing a modicum genuine because he also truly believes that he and Minho were soulmates. He nodded. “Yeah. I should talk to him tomorrow.”

“And if things don’t work out tomorrow,” Lia continued with a small shrug and a sad smile. “then give yourselves time. College is different from high school, maybe that’s why you two are having trouble right now.”

Jisung couldn’t help the small, nostalgic smile that crept up his lips as he remembered the times from years ago. “It is. But I still pictured all of college with Minho. I pictured the rest of my life with him.”

“It’s not the end, Jisung.” Lia says as she looks far into the park. She was choosing her words carefully, knowing how vulnerable break-ups leave people. “Not until you let it be.”

Jisung just nodded, letting the two of them bask in the silence of the night. They finished their iced-coffees in relative silence, with Lia’s presence as the best suggestion for comfort that Jisung can hold on to, and Jisung letting the events of the night replay in his mind for the umpteenth time since he left Minho’s apartment.

When their drinks are only melted ice cubes and the last traces of flavouring, Jisung remembers that dinner wasn’t the only thing he and Minho had planned for the night. His heart sinks as he realizes the time. They should be finishing with dinner by now and heading to their second and final destination, where Jisung had planned a small surprise for Minho.

He turns to Lia and offers her an apologetic smile. He didn’t want to drag her further into the city but he also dreaded the idea of being alone tonight.

“Hey, would it be okay if you come with me to the animal shelter?” he started sheepishly. He took a deep breath and wished he didn’t notice the way his voice shook as he continued, “I have to tell the shelter that Minho and I aren’t adopting anymore.”

Lia’s expression saddens again, almost akin to the expression she donned when Jisung had told her about the break-up in front of the elevators. “You were planning to get a pet together?”

Jisung nodded sadly, pressing his lips together in a thin line. “It was supposed to be a surprise. I told him we were just going to play with the animals, but I know he’ll find a cat he’ll want to take home. Then we’d go home and the people at the shelter would keep the cat Minho would want, and I’d come back for the cat in a week, maybe, however long it takes to convince Felix to switch apartments with me.”

Oh, God, he was going to ask Minho to live together. He blinked the fresh tears away and chuckled dryly when his voice cracked. “I guess that’s not happening anytime soon.”

Lia silently put their finished drinks aside, mentally reminding herself to throw them out and not forget them on the bench. “I’ll go with you to the shelter, it’s no problem.”

“Thank you.” Jisung said. He felt like he’s troubled her a lot tonight, so he offered, “We can have dinner after the animal shelter. My treat, as a thank you for tonight.”

With a playful, yet still tentative, raise of her brow, she smiled coyly at him. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

It was a joke, one that she often threw out without thinking, but before she can take it back and apologize for the remark, Jisung chuckles, still softly and slightly shaky, before he nods. “I could be. So?”

Lia studies Jisung’s expression for a moment. She doesn’t know whether or not to take Jisung seriously, but she knows that humouring Jisung would help him feel better, so she nods and hops on her feet. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go?”

She throws out the plastic cups on their way out of the park and Jisung hails a cab for them. She quickly shoots her roommate a text that she’d be home later than she thought, but judging by the time, it seemed that Ryujin already figured as much.

“Why were you in my apartment building, by the way?” Jisung asked as the cab drove through the city.

Lia looks up from her phone and smiles, remembering why she was there in the first place. “I was working on an assignment with a classmate that lived there. I was headed home but... I bumped into you.”

Jisung gave her a sheepish smile that he’s thrown her way several times tonight, and she chuckles as she squeezes his shoulder. “Hey, it’s fine. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to.”

Jisung nodded, breathing out what Lia could only register as a sigh of relief. “Thank you, really. I don’t want to be home right now.”

“Hey, I got you.” she said casually like it was something obvious. And it was.

They reach the animal shelter and Lia smiles when Jisung opens the door for her. She takes in the sizable animal shelter stationed beside a quaint bookstore that Lia had gone to once months ago. From outside, passers-by can see the variety of dogs and cats running around as well as caged rabbits, hamsters, birds, and other animals that instantly melted Lia’s heart.

“Thanks.” Lia smiled when Jisung opened the door of the shop for her. Jisung has always been a gentleman, so Lia let her cheeks blush pink at the gesture.

“Oh, Jisung!” one of the workers smiled as she saw the boy. She let go of the small dog she was cradling in her arms before standing off the floor, brushing off the fur that stuck to her uniform. It was clear that Jisung was already well-acquainted with the staff, judging from the way another one of the workers shot Jisung a friendly smile as he passed before disappearing into the staff room.

Lia wondered if Minho and Jisung came here often, or if it was only Jisung, setting up the small surprise he had planned for Minho that was supposedly going to take place tonight if things played out differently.

She eyed Lia in confusion before turning back to the boy in question.

Jisung’s smile turned sad again, and Lia immediately wracked her brain for more ways to distract Jisung from Minho. Jisung gestured to Lia. “This is Lia.”

“Hi.” the girl smiled brightly before it fades by the slightest. She looked between Jisung and Lia in slight confusion. “I thought...”

Jisung’s hand lifts to rub his nape. He looked shy, but Lia knew he was plainly crestfallen. “Something came up with M-Minho and...”

The shop worker didn’t miss the way Jisung’s voice shook at the name, but she let him continue. Jisung sighed. “Minho and I might not be adopting after all.”

The girl slumps, visibly dejected. “That’s too bad, Jisung. We even had all our kitties bathed for you two.”

Jisung’s eyes soften as he noticed how extra groomed the cats and some dogs were. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trouble you.”

The girl waves her hand with a laugh, more in comfort to Jisung than in her own humour. “Oh, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. The animals needed a bath anyway.”

A cat makes its way to Lia’s feet purring as it rubbed its cheek against the denim of her jeans. She giggled as she bent down to pet the white feline. “Hello, aren’t you adorable?”

Jisung watched her and let a small smile leave his lips. “Do you want to stay for a bit and play with them? They’re all really friendly, it’s hard to say goodbye to them sometimes.”

“If it’s okay, then why not.” Lia smiled up at him, the white cat already cradled in her arms as another one started to make its way to her.

Jisung smiled, the most genuine that Lia has seen from him all night. “Of course, it is.”

“I’ll leave you two to it, then.” the woman said when it was evident the two would be staying. “I have to go and feed and the birds, so Jisung, you’re in charge of her.”

“Okay, then.” Jisung nodded before sitting crisscross on the floor next to Lia. He watched as she pet the two white kittens, letting a small laugh escape from his lips whenever she’d coo at the kitten in her arms and then at the one by her feet.

They didn’t stay for long when Jisung remembered that he still had to feed the girl.

“I’m totally blaming you if I end up getting a bunny.” she teased as they stepped out of the animal shelter, their arms linked together as they walked.

Jisung laughed. “Okay, but that means I get to barge into your apartment and visit the bunny.”

Lia laughed as well, grateful that Jisung had gotten visibly less tense and sad during their time in the animal shelter. He’s almost back to the always smiling boy he was, save for the cracks in his eyes where the light had died down, hopefully temporarily.

“So, dinner?” Jisung asked as they turned the corner of the sidewalk.

The street lights were shining nicely above them, as well as the lights from the establishments they passed as they looked for somewhere suitable to eat their late dinner. Jisung is once again reminded of how nice the night was, and he was happy that he still got to go out and walk around the city tonight.

In a bittersweet kind of sense, at least he got to go on a date today. He’d deal with his heartbreak tomorrow, but for now, he wanted to spend time with Lia and show her that he was thankful for lending her shoulder for him to cry on.

“Oh, careful!” he exclaimed as he took her hand and tugged her closer and away from the puddle she was a moment away from stepping on. It didn’t rain today but maybe there were some passers-by that spilled their drink or something.

She looked at the puddle as they passed it, reflexively lacing her fingers between Jisung’s. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Jisung smiled softly as he gently swung their hands between them. Lia was going to pull away but figured she’d rather not if Jisung was going to be cute about it.

“How does pizza sound?” Lia asked him as she remembered a pizza parlor a street away from where they currently were. “It’s not a French restaurant, but is Italian your style?”

Jisung laughed with a small nod. “Sounds great. Lead the way.”

And that’s how they found themselves seated in a four-person booth of a pizza parlor, laughing as they exchanged stories and ate pizza.

Jisung felt lighter than he thought he could after leaving Minho’s apartment and he was thankful for that. If he was noting the small similarities between Minho and Lia earlier, now he was noting their differences, which were almost everything.

Minho didn’t like the crust of his pizza, so he always left it out for anyone who wanted it to take and eat, whilst Lia snatched the crust of Jisung’s pizza before he can take a bite out of it. Minho was snarky and cynical and could offend anyone who didn’t know that it was plainly his personality and that there was no real bite in his bark, and Lia was soft-spoken and Jisung was positive the girl wasn’t catching herself before cursing because she didn’t even know how to speak profanities.

Minho rolled his eyes when he smiled and Lia’s crinkled when she smiled. Minho scoffed and Lia giggled. Minho was rowdy and liked to horseplay, and Lia kept to her own personal space as much as possible. Minho moved with the grace of the exceptional dancer that he was and Lia spoke with the lull of an angel’s voice.

Lia was different, and Jisung couldn’t have wanted to spend the night of his break-up with anyone else, because the more time he spent with her, the more he forgot about Minho.

“I had fun tonight, believe it or not.” Jisung said as they exited the pizza parlor. He reached out for Lia’s hand again, his thumb grazing the dorsum on her hand mindlessly as he did it whenever he held anyone’s hand, but mostly Minho’s.

Jisung had offered to walk Lia home since her building was a 15-minute walk. He’d have to take a cab home, though, since he lived nearer the university than Lia, who was deeper into the city.

Lia smiled, a mixture of relief and gratefulness. “I’m glad I made you feel better.”

Jisung nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad I bumped into you tonight.”

“I’m glad I could help.” she said truthfully. She didn’t want to think much of her quote-unquote ‘date’ with Jisung, but she couldn’t deny that he still had the ability to make butterflies fly around her stomache.

Maybe she wasn’t as over him as she thought.

If Jisung was being honest, he genuinely enjoyed the night. It may have played out extremely differently from how he planned and hoped for it to, but he focused on the blessing in disguise that was Lia, who made him feel happy when he was supposed to be crying his heart out.

He was going to talk to Minho tomorrow. He didn’t care if he needed to barge into his morning class and profess his undying love for the older. He’d run over to him the moment he wakes up and won’t let him go until they talked this out and were back to normal.

He wasn’t going to let Minho break up with him over something so small like stress and fatigue. Jisung truly believed that they were stronger than that, and he was going to prove it.

But right now, he was with Lia, and he was taking her home after she accompanied him throughout what should have been the worse night of his life. If it weren’t for her, he’d most likely be in his sixth tub of ice-cream and a dozen sobs away from passing out.

“I don’t think I ever told you this but,” Jisung sighed as they reached the apartment building Lia lived in. He stopped walking, making Lia stop as well. “you’re really great. I really had a great time tonight, and thank you so much for being with me.”

Lia raised her free hand to ruffle Jisung’s hair. “It’s no problem. I had a great time, too. Hanging out with you is always a great time.”

Jisung smiled as nodded, letting Lia thread her fingers through his hair as he looked into her eyes.

“And if you need another night like this, you have my number.” she said. “Just call me and you’re all set.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” he said with a short laugh.

She shrugged, her hand resting on his nape. “Have an ice-cream party by yourself.”

He didn’t know what it was, but he found himself inching closer to her. He saw the way her eyes widened by a fraction before they fluttered close, in that innately feminine way she moved.

His eyes flickered to her lips before he closed his eyes and pressed their lips together. It was a soft kiss, a simple press of their lips that was supposed to elicit a handful of butterflies in their stomaches. The hand on his nape dropped to his shoulder, and he used their laced fingers to tug the girl closer before he pulled away, pressing their foreheads together.

When Jisung opened his eyes, Lia still has her’s closed. This gave him a chance to spot the twinge of pink dusting her cheeks and Jisung thought it was a good look on her.

Lia blinked her eyes open, smiling gently at Jisung before letting go of his hand. “I’ll see you around.”

“Good night.” he breathed out before taking a step back.

She nodded before waving her hand shyly and disappearing inside the apartment building.

It takes Jisung a belated beat before he realizes what just happened. His eyes widen in shock and his heart drops in guilt.

“What did I just do?” he asked himself before letting out a nonplussed breath.

He stands there outside of the apartment building, the feeling of her lips still lingering in his lips and that fed into the guilt he was feeling.

He hailed a cab and headed home, his mind reeling from the events of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

When Jisung wakes up, it’s to Chan in the kitchen fixing himself a pot of coffee. The older boy glances at Jisung’s direction and gives the boy a smile before turning back to the coffee brewer. Jisung figured that if Chan was here, then Changbin wasn’t. It’s been a while since the three of them were together in the apartment, save for the nights, when they’d be asleep.

“Hey, Jisung, how was last night?” Chan asked with his back turned to Jisung. “Did you have fun with your date with Minho?”

The question woke Jisung up in the roughest way possible as he trudged to the cupboard to retrieve a mug so that he could ask for some coffee as well. The mug almost slipped from his fingers as the question brought back the events of last night and the unfamiliar lump in his throat came back.

He and Minho broke up. He wanted it to be a dream but even nightmares were better than this reality.

“Actually, we didn’t make it to dinner.” he said and Chan barely caught the words.

Chan, amused, raises a brow, ready to tease the younger about how hormonal he and his boyfriend were. “Oh? You two didn’t traumatize Felix, did you?”

Jisung ignores the comment as he stands next to Chan and places the mug next to the one Chan had laid out in a silent request for a caffeine fill. He sighed, his eyes feeling damp again. “No, we, uhh... broke up.”

The words still left a dreadfully bitter taste in his mouth, awful enough to make Jisung choke from how terrible the syllables tasted in his tongue. He felt tears filling the back of his eyes, waiting for him to blink so that the waterworks could flow freely down his cheeks.

Chan instantaneously tears his eyes away from the coffee machine and gives Jisung a look that was a mixture of confusion, dread, and shock. The older of the two wanted to convince himself that he was hallucination because of his blatant lack of sleep, but the look on Jisung’s face was anything but unreal.

“What?” he asked as he pulled the younger into a tight hug. “Jisung, what happened?”

Chan tries to think of reasons for Minho and Jisung’s sudden break-up, but comes up with none. The two weren’t a perfect couple but they were clearly perfect for each other. He couldn't think of anything bad enough for the two of them to decide to call it quits.

Jisung stays silent as Chan rubs circles on his back, somehow forcing tears out of him that he didn’t even know he needed to cry out until now. Chan shushed him softly. “Where were you last night? We assumed you and Minho were out to dinner.”

“I was with Lia.” he whispered in the older’s shoulder. He pulled away from Chan as the end of the night before came back to him. He wiped his tears away as the guilt reappeared in Jisung’s system. “We went to the animal shelter and then ate pizza and then...”

“And then?” Chan asked as he turned back to the coffee machine and poured two mugs of coffee, attention still on Jisung and sadness clearly written on his face.

“And then we kissed.” Jisung said and he huffed in a combination of frustration and guilt. He felt awful. He felt like he was cheating on Minho, when they’re not even together anymore; he felt like he was leading Lia on and he honestly had no excuse for what he did last night, which maybe was the worst part.

He knew that Lia used to have feelings for him, but he still went and kissed her anyway. Maybe it was _because_ she used to like him. That made him feel worse.

Chan led him to the dining table before bringing their coffee mugs from the counter to the table, sitting next to Jisung and looking at him in both anger and surprise. Jisung wanted to be surprised, but he wasn’t. He wanted to punch himself for that mistake.

“Jisung, what?” Chan asked, more for clarification as he hoped he heard wrong.

Jisung shook his head, inundated by his own confusion. “I don’t know, it just... she was there and... and then next thing I know, I was kissing her.”

“Jisung.” Chan said, voice stern but still soft as the news of the break-up was still sinking in. “What about Minho?”

“I love Minho.” Jisung blustered as the tears came back. If some dropped into his mug of coffee, he didn’t care. “I love him so, so much and I feel awful for it. What if I’m leading Lia on? She doesn’t deserve that, either.”

“Jisung,” Chan called again as he pulled the boy in his arms again. “shhh, it’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not!” Jisung cried. The thoughts and feelings he was able to repress last night have come back full force and with an axe to grind. It felt as if the pain was taking revenge on him for even attempting to distract himself from it the night before. “I l-lost Minho. Chan, he _broke up with me_. I-I... can’t imagine life without him.”

He choked through his words and he felt himself crying harder and harder as he fully woke up.

Lia was the least of his problems right now. Right now, it was Minho, Minho, and Minho, and the pain that came with losing him.

His plans of going to Minho are thrown out the window as he resigns himself to Chan’s arms, crying his heart out like how Minho did to Felix last night.

The door opens and either boy is too pre-occupied to pay attention to the new-comer. Jisung didn’t care if any of the others walked in on him and saw him as a crying mess. He couldn’t hide the news of his and Minho’s break-up for long, if Minho hadn’t broken the news to them first.

“Jisung.” the voice made a sob escape Jisung as he immediately recognized the voice. He felt his heart break as well as swell at the voice.

Chan let go of Jisung as Minho made his way over to the boy, sitting on his other side. It broke his heart to see Jisung like this and he hated himself for being the cause of Jisung’s crying. But he was here to fix things and make it up to Jisung.

“You’re supposed to be in c-class.” Jisung cried as he took in the sight of Minho, looking as wrecked as Jisung felt. Minho looked like he barely had any sleep, his hair was unkempt and it was clear he put on the first articles of clothing he could grab before running out the door and making his way here.

Minho shook his head before bringing the crying boy in his arms, blinking away tears of his own. “No, no. I can’t go to class after last night.”

He didn’t mind the tremble in his voice as he spoke, only wanting to tell Jisung that he was sorry for last night. “Please stop crying. Don’t cry, Jisung, please.”

Chan had already resigned himself to his room after locking the door of the apartment to keep others from walking in, his mug of coffee in hand. He had to review for finals, which was on the day after tomorrow, and more than that he wanted to give the two space to talk.

“Baby, I’m sorry.” Minho said as he cupped Jisung’s cheeks and used his thumb to wipe away the tears that rolled down his eyes. He gave the boy a sad smile as he continued, “I was stupid. I could never break up with you. I love you too much.”

“I love you, too.” Jisung whispered. “Don’t leave me.”

“I would never, Sungie.” Minho said as he placed a kiss on Jisung’s nose, and then his forehead. “I’m sorry, I was stupid. Let me make it up to you, okay? Let’s go away this weekend, just the two of us.”

He was going to take Jisung away on an impromptu vacation to start their semestrial break, as far away as a last-minute vacation would allow. He wanted to make up for the anniversary he’s ruined and the months they’ve been apart.

Jisung nodded as he nuzzled his cheek in the crook of Minho’s neck. “Okay. Let’s do that.”

Jisung’s sniffling and Minho’s humming are the only things that can be heard in the apartment for a couple of seconds before Minho takes it upon himself to ask a question with a very obvious answer.

“Does that mean I can be your boyfriend again?” Minho asked hopefully.

Jisung nodded and pulled him closer, letting the last of his tears fall before turning to face Minho and cupping his cheeks. He gave the boy a sad smile of his own. “I’m sorry, too, babe.”

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Minho what he was apologizing for. It was wrong to kiss Lia, he knew that. He and Minho were broken up last night, but that didn’t make it less of a mistake. It was wrong to him, to Minho, and to Lia.

Minho leaned forward and kissed Jisung quickly before burying Jisung’s face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around Jisung’s back. “It’s okay, Jisung. Let’s forget about it, okay?”

Jisung nodded and inhaled, letting out a sigh of relief.

This was right.

* * *

Two hours later and Changbin and Hyunjin are in the apartment. Chan had left for class and Minho had gone to the studio after Jisung insisted that he didn’t have to skip a whole day of working for him. They were okay now, and that was all that mattered.

As much as he wanted to keep Minho to himself for the whole of the day, he knew Minho was still plenty busy and he knew that the guilt eating him up from the inside out wasn’t going to help him be productive today, so he thanked the heavens that he had virtually nothing else to do but wait for finals to come.

The others were struggling to keep up with their own deadlines, except Changbin and Hyunjin who had time to spare and listen to Jisung’s story of last night. It seemed that Minho hadn’t told anyone that they broke up, so Jisung’s explanation began from his appearance at the dance studio until the end of his date with Lia.

“I should tell him, should I?” Jisung concluded after he’d finish his re-telling. He looked at the two older boys for confirmation. “I have to, right?”

“Jisung, you _just_ made up with Minho.” Changbin started. He was seated on the one-seater with Hyunjin stationed on the arm, Jisung by himself on the sofa with his knees pulled to his chest. “Are you really willing to have another fight with him? After just getting back together, no less.”

“I know, but...” Jisung gnawed on his bottom lip before sighing. “I don’t want to lie to him.”

Hyunjin, seemingly on the same side as Changbin, shrugged. “Then don’t _lie_ to him. Just don’t, tell him about last night. That way you’re happy and he’s happy.”

It didn’t take a lot to convinced Jisung, so when he nodded his head, both Changbin and Hyunjin let out a sigh of relief. The last thing they wanted was for the couple to break up for real, and they thought that telling Minho about Lia was going to do the trick.

As far as they were concerned, he didn’t need know what Jisung had been up to during the one night that they were broke up.

“Talk to Lia, though.” Changbin reminded with a point of his finger. Jisung nodded immediately, the task having already been on his to-do list since he woke up this morning.

“Okay, now let’s think about the trail.” Hyunjin spoke as he tapped his chin in thought.

The other two looked at him in question, but Hyunjin was too deep in his mental backtracking to pay them any mind. His brows were curled, the dent between them showing how focused he was.

“The trail?” Jisung asked in confusion.

Hyunjin looked at him before glancing down at Changbin, who looked just as confused. Hyunjin groaned, throwing his head back as he did so.

“The trail!” he repeated as if it was explanation enough. “You have to make sure Lia doesn’t tell anyone. Do you know who she lives with?”

“With Ryujin.” Jisung answered after a moment of thought, slowly picking up on what Hyunjin was putting down.

Hyunjin snapped his fingers. “What if she tells Ryujin? And Ryujin’s younger sister is Yuna, who’s best friends with Yeji.”

“I don’t think any of those girls are connected to Minho.” Changbin said before turning to Jisung. “But you better talk about this to Lia, too. We don’t want the details of last night reaching Minho. He’ll be crushed.”

Jisung nodded as he pushed himself off the sofa as he shot Lia a text to ask if she was home. “I’ll do it right now.”

“Good. The sooner, the better.” Hyunjin said as he pushed Jisung out of the apartment.

* * *

Not half an hour later, Jisung is sat in Lia and Ryujin’s living room. The latter was out for class, so it was only Lia and Jisung inside the apartment.

“Minho and I got back together.” Jisung said after he and Lia had settled on the sofa.

She smiled brightly, quickly pulling him into a warm hug. “That’s great, Jisung! I knew you would.”

He hugged her back before taking a deep breath and letting go. He looked at her seriously, not wanting to hurt her and already hating himself for what he was about to say next. “Lia, about last night...”

Opposite to what he expected her reaction to be, she laughed, smiling softly. “I get it, Jisung. It’s no problem.”

“I’m sorry.” he apologizes but Lia is quick to wave him off.

She laughs again, the same timbre she always does. “It’s okay, Jisung. No hard feelings, really. Let’s pretend it never happened. okay?”

She really was a sweetheart, and Jisung wished with all of his heart that he didn’t hurt her. The last thing he wanted was to lose a friend as precious as Lia.

Jisung nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Although...” Lia’s cheery voice turned apologetic, and it was enough to elicit a frisson of fear to run down Jisung’s spine. She sighed, “I might have told Ryujin about it when I got home. I’m sorry.”

He figured as much. Lia and Ryujin told each other everything. He sighed, schooling an understanding smile and deeply hoping the trail stopped at Ryujin, who entered the apartment as if on cue.

“Ryujin!” Lia greeted the girl, who looked at them, her gaze lingering on Jisung. “Great news, Minho and Jisung got back together! You didn’t tell anyone about what I told you, did you?”

Ryujin’s jaw dropped half-way, visibly confused. “It was supposed to be a secret?”

Jisung _desperately_ hoped that Ryujin was pulling a trick on them and the girl would burst into laughs saying that she hasn’t told a single soul about Lia and Jisung. But the girl remained looking as apologetic as Lia had and Jisung but back a whimper.

“I told Yuna earlier whilst I was walking her to the library.” Ryujin said with her brows furrowed in apology. She turned to Jisung. “I’m so sorry, Jisung, it just slipped out, and that girl can make me talk without thinking.”

He wasn’t going to blame anyone. This was his fault and his mess, so he offered Ryujin a smile before he stood up. “No, no, it’s fine. I’ll talk to her myself. Is she still in the library?”

Ryujin nodded. “Yeah, she is. I’m _really_ sorry, Jisung.”

“It’s fine.” Jisung said, shocking even himself with how sincere he was. He just needed to get to Yuna as quickly as possible and hope that the trail ended there.

The ride to school was a good ten minutes, and Jisung was well aware that every second counts. Once the cab dropped him off in front of the university, he made a beeline for the library, hoping he wouldn’t run into his friends there.

It takes him a few minutes to find Yuna, but she does find the girl seated by herself and indulging in a novel instead of a textbook. Jisung prayed that the only thing she did between being dropped off by her sister up to now was read.

“Yuna, hey.” Jisung smiled politely as he tapped the girl’s shoulder.

Yuna looks up and Jisung doesn’t miss the way her eyes widen when she realizes who was in front of her. She smile, a little strained, at Jisung. “Jisung, hi.”

“Look, Yuna,” Jisung stared as he hung his head low. Unlike Lia and Ryujin, he didn’t have a good enough grasp of Yuna’s personality, so he was preparing himself to be yelled at if she decided it was fit. “about what Ryujin told you...”

Yuna blinked at him, face blank, as she closed her book. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the guilt-ridden boy stood in front of her. Her face flashed with recognition and she frowned at him, shaking her head at the boy in a suggestion of disappointment.

“You did a bad thing.” she taunted, her voice not above a whisper and Jisung was thankful they were in a library and loud noises were prohibited.

“I know, and...” Jisung gulped. “Minho and I are okay now, so can you please not tell anyone about what happened between Lia and me? The last thing I want is to lose him for real.”

“Then you have to tell him.” Yuna urged as she turned her body to properly face him.

Jisung sighed in defeat, ready to drop to his knees. “Yuna, please. I’m begging you.”

Yuna doesn’t answer. She takes in the way Jisung’s eyes were the most desperate shade of brown she’s ever seen and mentally debates whether or not she wanted to threaten Jisung to tell Minho or else she will.

She takes pity on him, however, so she gives him a resigned smile and opens her book again. “I won’t. But just so you know, I just told Yeji about it because she saw me and Ryujin talking and was curious.”

Jisung almost whimpered. He didn’t know where to find Yeji, and didn’t know who was next on the trail after Yeji. He might as well go straight to Minho and get this over with because he wouldn’t be surprised if Minho knew by now.

“She said she’ll be at the cafeteria, so you might want to check there.” Yuna says after a beat of silence, not sparing Jisung another glance as she was too engrossed in her reading.

“Thank you.” Jisung lets out before sprinting out of the library. He considered himself lucky that the library was a building away from the cafeteria, which saved him time and his breath.

He really, really hoped that Yeji was the dead end he was so desperately chasing.

“Yeji!” he called when he saw the girl paying for her bottled juice. He jogs up to her, badly hoping that she hadn’t has the chance to tell anyone about him and Lia.

Her eyes narrow when she sees him, much like Yuna’s, but lets him walk over to her before she opens her mouth to speak. “Jisung.”

“Yeji, I—“ Jisung is cut off when Yeji talks.

“Lia told Ryujin, who told Yuna, who told me, and if I’m assuming you came from the library, I can also assume that you’re here to ask me not to tell anyone about you kissing Lia last night?” she intoned before taking a sip of her juice.

Jisung nodded his head and didn’t dare speak. He waited for Yeji to finish drinking and let her continue speaking. “You’re about five minutes late, maybe? Chaeryeong just left for dance practice, but I can promise not to tell her again.”

His heart drops in worry at the name.

Chaeryeong. Shit.

Jisung closed his eyes in frustration. The girl hated him, how can he forget that Yeji and Chaeryeong lived together?

“I only told her because I hate keeping secrets from her and I know she knows Minho.” Yeji’s cold expression softens into something akin to attrition. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” Jisung breathed out as his heart pounded in his ears at the realization that there was no way in hell he’d be able to persuade Chaeryeong because the girl hated his guts. “It’s my fault. I have to find her.”

Yeji nodded and without another glance, Jisung sprints across campus and towards the dance studios, where he knows Minho was.

When he sees Chaeryeong standing in front of the vending machine near the entrance of the building, he almost drops to his knees. He had no idea how he was going to talk to the girl but he was willing to do anything to keep this from Minho.

“Chaeryeong, I need to talk to you.” Jisung said as he jogged up to the girl.

Chaeryeong takes out two bottles of water from the vending machine before turning to him, her face as passive as ever when it came to him. She waved the bottles in the air. “Make it quick, I have to get your _boyfriend_ his water.”

He gulps at the way she said ‘boyfriend’. “Chaeryeong, I need you to not tell Minho about me and Lia. Please.”

He doesn’t see the way a corner of Chaeryeong’s lips rug upwards in an amused smirk, but he does see her blink in mock confusion as she tilts her head to the side.

“Was I not supposed to?” she asked in a way Jisung wanted to scowl but the dawning realization setting in was greater.

Minho knows.

He’s going to hate Jisung.

Jisung breathes out a shaky breath as he thinks of ways to redeem himself to Minho, but before he can form any coherent thoughts, he sees a figure three meters away from them, his eyes cold as he looked at Jisung, obviously having encountered his exchange with Chaeryeong.

“Minho, let me explain.” Jisung starts. He takes a step towards Minho but the older shake his head in disbelief before walking away, passing by Chaeryeong and Jisung without saying a word.

* * *

Seungmin, Jeongin, and Felix were in Felix’s room, a map laid out on the floor in front of them as Jeongin and Felix helped Seungmin brainstorm ideas for his creative output. After Seungmin found out that Hyunjin and Changbin were just lazing about in the other building, he sent the two to borrow an Atlas from the library, which the boys agreed to do.

Chan was outside Felix’s room, raiding the fridge. Why he was here was a mystery to the other three, who were only in Minho and Felix’s apartment because Felix had a map and Seungmin wanted to torture himself by not doing his project in the comfort of his own room.

“Okay, here’s the Atlas.” Changbin announced as he and Hyunjin walked inside Felix’s room, dropping the book on Felix’s lap before he jumps into Felix’s bed.

“Don’t mess up my bed!” Felix whined more than warned.

Chan comes in a second later, chuckling at how filled the room looked. Seungmin, Felix, and Jeongin were on the floor, Changbin on the bed, and Hyunjin leaned against the door. Chan walked over to the bed and sat down next to Changbin, leaving Hyunjin to close the bedroom door.

“Been a while since we’ve been together like this.” Chan notes as Changbin rolls over above the thick blanket.

Jeongin laughed as took the Atlas from Felix and began to flip through it with Seungmin. “Jisung and Minho aren’t here.”

Before any of them can claim that the couple not being present meant that they were together somewhere being lovey-dovey, there’s a slam of the door from outside, and before Hyunjin can open Felix’s bedroom door to check what was happening out in the living room, they hear shouting.

“I can’t believe you, Jisung!”

It’s Minho’s voice, angry enough to send a shiver down Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Changbin’s spines as Felix, Chan, and Seungmin grimaced at the tone. It was furious, shaking from emotion that none of them have ever heard from him before.

 _This can’t be good_ , the six boys think to themselves.


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t believe you, Jisung!”

Minho had walked all the way from campus back to his apartment, Jisung hot on his trail. He didn’t give his boyfriend a glance during the fifteen minute walk, silently seething to himself with every step he took. He didn’t speak, afraid that he’d end up lashing out in the middle of the sidewalk in the late afternoon.

He was angry. He was livid. He didn’t know if he was furious because Jisung had gone and went out with someone else _right after_ they broke up, or because Jisung was intent on keeping it from him. He _caught_ him, trying to talk Chaeryeong into keeping it from Minho, and that just made it worse.

There weren’t supposed to be any secrets between them.

There wasn’t supposed to be anyone else, either, but Jisung made it clear that it was all too easy to move on from Minho.

“Minho, listen to me, please.” Jisung said as he latched on to Minho’s arm before the boy could disappear into his bedroom. He knew that once Minho’s door was locked, the only way to get him out was through kicking the door open.

Minho threw Jisung’s arm away, finally turning to look at the boy. “Jisung, how could you do that?!”

His eyes were shaking with anger, a contrast to Jisung’s trembling irises, which reflected nothing short of guilt and hesitance.

“Do I really mean nothing to you?!” he asked as he stepped away from Jisung and walked to the sofa, standing behind it so that it was between them. He wanted to break something, but most of all, he wanted to yell at Jisung. His voice cracked, from anger or despair, he wasn’t sure.

He was hurt. What Jisung did _hurt_.

“Minho, don’t say that.” Jisung pleaded. His voice was relatively softer than Minho’s angry tone, but the thin walls of the apartment made it possible for the six boys to clearly hear if they pressed their ears against the door.

Which they did. Changbin and Felix were seated on the floor, Seungmin crouched next to Changbin. Chan and Hyunjin were standing, hovering above the three boys whilst Jeongin was standing on Felix’s chair after dragging it next to Felix so that he could press his ear above Hyunjin’s.

“What did Jisung do?” Seungmin whispered to them.

Jeongin shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Chan, Hyunjin, and Changbin kept quiet, listening to the argument outside.

“Of all people, why Lia?” Minho asked. He held his hand up before Jisung could say anything, shaking his head. “No, not that. Why _at all_?! And keeping it from me?!”

Minho’s overthinking made him think if Jisung had dome this before— if he’d gone and went out with someone after they’ve had a fight. It ate away at Minho’s insides, threatening to make his knees buckle.

“Minho, I knew you would be upset.” Jisung replied. “I didn’t want to hurt you, we had just gotten back together!”

Minho slumped, donning a smile that was everything mocking and sarcastic, as he raised a wrist to forehead, acting like a children’s story’s damsel in distress. “Oh, that is so sweet. I think I’m falling in love with you all over again!”

Jisung didn’t appreciate the sarcasm.

“Hey!” Jisung started to raise his voice as well. “I wanted to tell you, but Changbin and Hyunjin told me not to!”

Four pairs of eyes looked to the mentioned boys, all varying kinds of glaring and questioning. Hyunjin steps back from them right away, holding his hands up in defeat. “Look, we were only trying to help.”

He looked sympathetic, knowing that not telling Minho made Jisung look worse. Now that he thought about it more, maybe keeping it from Minho wasn’t the best idea.

Changbin nods, desperately not wanting to be beaten to a pulp by the others. “We thought it was best!”

“Honesty is the best policy, you dill.” Felix hissed at the boy next to him. He wanted to rip Hyunjin and Changbin a new one, but he restrained himself. He was holding on to hope that Minho and Jisung would still make it out of this together.

“No, do _not_ pin this on the others.” Minho laughed dryly. He pointed a finger at Jisung. “You’re not going to get out of this by pinning this on someone else.”

“I’m not trying to get out of anything.” Jisung insisted. “I thought our relationship was dead.”

Minho scoffed, the breath full of irony and sarcasm and hurt. “Well, you sure enjoyed yourself at the funeral.”

“Minho, please, they told me not to tell you.” Jisung pleaded. By this point, maybe he was trying to get out of this by pinning this on someone else, but wracking his mind for any sort of redemption wasn’t doing him very well when he doesn’t know what to do to calm Minho down.

“ _You_ could have still told me, but no! I found out from Chaeryeong!” Minho had a point, Jisung knew that. He also knew that running around for almost an hour was useless because he and Minho still ended up arguing over last night.

He really should have just told Minho.

Her words still rang in his ears, loud and menacing and all too painful. Jisung’s words came next, how he was asking Chaeryeong to keep it a secret from him.

“You weren’t supposed to find out!” Jisung was pleading with Minho to calm down, but he was getting pretty frustrated himself. He ran all around campus for nothing, he and Minho still ended up arguing.

Minho scoffed, looking at Jisung incredulously. He placed a hand on his chest, schooling a very sarcastic expression. “Well, thank you for trying to spare my feelings, Jisung.”

“We were broken up, Minho!” Jisung spat. He didn’t know what else to say, he was grasping at straws now, trying to elicit some sort of redemption.

Jeongin and Seungmin gasp. They look to the others, realizing that they were the only two that didn’t know about it. Felix and Hyunjin have seated themselves on the bed, finding that they can still hear Minho even when they weren’t pressed to the door. Seungmin had taken Felix’s place next to Changbin, Jeongin and Chan still in their original positions.

“Yes, and then you spend the whole night with someone else!” Minho yelled, grabbing a magazine from the coffee table and hitting Jisung’s arm with it when the boy walked over to him. “Don’t touch me!”

“Minho, we were broken up!” Jisung repeated as he took a couple of hits. It wasn’t painful. He would let Minho hit him if it made him feel better. It was better than Minho punching a wall until his knuckles were bruised and bloody.

“So you thought it was right to go and do that?!?” Minho asked before swinging the magazine and hitting Jisung’s chest. “Congratulations, you just ruined any chance of us getting back together!”

Jisung took the magazine from Minho, internally grateful that the older didn’t put up a fight. “Minho, you don’t mean that.”

“What, like you didn’t mean to keep your date with Lia from me?” Minho shot back, crossing his arms now that he had nothing in his hands. His heart was thrumming in his chest from anger, he could feel the nerve in his forehead throbbing and he wouldn’t be surprised if it burst any minute now.

“Yes, okay!” Jisung gave in, slumping against the back of the sofa as he ran his free hand through his face. “I took her out on a date. Minho, I was _heartbroken_! _You broke up with me_ , I didn’t know what to do!”

“So you went and took a girl out?” Minho asked. He walked to the front of the sofa, not wanting to be two steps away from Jisung with nothing between them.

“Yes, and I’m sorry.” Jisung said. “That wasn’t me, Minho. I don’t cheat! That’s not me! I’m sorry.”

“No, Jisung, you did.” Minho sighed out, shaking from something else other than anger. “Just... is it that easy to replace me? It took you what? Half an hour?!”

His fears from last night came back to him. Seeing Jisung with someone else. He didn’t think that Jisung would find a replacement that quickly. It hurt like hell, how easy it was for Jisung to forget about him, how _quickly_ he was able to.

“Minho, it’s not like that!”

“Then, what?!” Minho yelled as he frustratedly pulled at his hair. “Jisung, what?”

“Believe me, the moment I pulled away I knew I shouldn’t have kissed her.” Jisung said with as much sincerity as he can muster.

Minho’s face shifts. What was once dissolving anger came back full force. Pin-drop silence permeated through the apartment as Minho processed the statement. He looked at Jisung, eyes blank and lips pressed thin as he clenched his fists. “You _kissed_ her?!”

Minho did not know that.

Jisung’s mind blanked. He held his head down, lifting his hand to offer Minho the rolled up magazine. With a steady breath, Minho took it, not wasting any time before hitting Jisung with it, knees pressed on the cushions of the sofa.

“I! Can’t! Believe you! Kissed! Her!” Minho grit his teeth with every hit, eyes closed shut in an attempt to keep his tears behind his eyes and not rolling down his cheeks.

“Guys, should we do something?” Changbin asked as the sound of every slap of the laminated papers on Jisung’s arms reached behind Felix’s closed door. Minho was a violent person when he was angry, but he usually let it out on inanimate objects. Changbin was speaking for everyone in the room when he voiced his worry for Jisung’s physical wellbeing.

Seungmin huffed, getting to his feet and making his way to the bed and on the floor by the foot of it. “Yeah, not cheat on Minho.”

Minho dropped the magazine by Jisung’s feet and pushed himself off the sofa, walking to the coffee table so that there were two things between them now. He wanted to _break_ something. Maybe some plates, or a vase; maybe even a bone— anything.

He raked a hand through his hair, back to Jisung. “Anything else you did with her?”

He didn’t want to know. But more than that, he didn’t want to be lied to some more. He couldn’t stop picturing the two of them together, laughing and being together and going on a date. He couldn’t get the thought of them kissing out of his mind and he was close to clawing his eyes out if it meant the imagery would cease to exist.

“Minho, I promise that’s it.”

Minho choked out a dry laugh and turned to Jisung, face still an expression of deep anger. “Well, thank you for holding back.”

“I thought we were broken up.” Jisung repeated. He still didn’t know if he cheated or not, but either way, what he did was wrong; for him, for Minho, for Lia.

“Why don’t we make that into reality?”

Jisung’s heart stopped for the second time within twenty four hours. No, he couldn’t lose Minho again. Not over this. Not over something that wasn’t supposed to be a problem.

He was stupid, but he’d be damned if he was stupid enough to lose Minho.

Jisung started shaking his head, walking over to Minho and gripping onto the older’s wrist. “No, no, no, Minho, you are _not_ breaking up with me.”

“Don’t touch me!” Minho said as he squirmed but Jisung guided him to the sofa and sat him down on it, taking a seat on the coffee table so that he was in front of Minho and was still holding onto his wrist.

Jisung was still shaking his head, bringing Minho’s wrists to his lips and speaking with the skin muffling his words. “Minho, don’t do this. You said you wouldn’t leave me.”

“That was before I knew about last night.”

“Let’s forget about last night.”

“No! Jisung, you can’t just ask me to forget about last night!” Minho tore his hands away from Jisung, scowling deeply. “Everytime I see her, I’ll think of you _with_ her. I’ll think of you _kissing_ her!”

He jabbed a finger to Jisung’s shoulder, pushing him slightly. “Every time I see _you_ , I’ll picture _her_ in _your_ arms!”

“Should we let them know we’re here?” Felix asked. Seungmin had gotten back to his work, Jeongin and Hyunjin helping him out on the floor. Chan and Changbin were still by the door, relaying what was too soft to be heard throughout the room.

Jeongin shook his head, a twinge of fear in his eyes. “Then they’ll know we’ve been here the whole time. The last thing I want is a papercut to the ribs.”

“But I’m hungry.” Felix sighed. He should double-think his refusal to bring food in his room.

“They’ll get through this, right?” Chan asked. He was seated on the chair now, Changbin by his feet.

Hyunjin shrugged, leaned against the foot of Felix’s bed and the Atlas opened on his lap. “They have to, they’re Minho and Jisung.”

He said it as if it was a fact; which it was, in some ways.

“But what if they don’t?” Seungmin asked under his breath but still loud enough for the others to hear.

Felix’s room is silent after that, the only sounds being Hyunjin flipping through the pages of the Atlas and Seungmin scribbling on paper. The air inside the room was as heavy as the air outside, where a storm was far from calming.

“Minho, please.” Jisung’s voice was strained, hoarse from alternating between pleads and yells. He tried to touch Minho again, but the boy glared at him before he crossed his arms. “Minho, babe.”

“Don’t call me that.” Minho said as he stood to his feet. He started making his way to his room again, but Jisung caught up to him, turning his around and cupping his cheeks gently.

“Babe.” Jisung whimpered as he pressed his forehead against Minho’s. Minho wanted to pull away but he couldn’t bring it in himself to do so. Jisung’s hands were warm on his cheeks and he’d prefer that over cold tears running down the skin.

Minho took deep breath, trying to calm himself whilst he let Jisung cradle his face in his hands. He could feel Jisung’s breath fanning his face, their noses inches apart and if it were under different circumstances, Minho would have rubbed their noses together like he knew Jisung liked.

“Forgive me.” Jisung sighed before leaning forward and catching Minho’s lips in a soft kiss. Minho relaxes, melting into the kiss instantly. His hands find Jisung’s shoulders as he closes his eyes, tilting his head so that their lips were slotted together instead of pressed against one another.

It was a soft kiss, one that never failed to give birth to butterflies that spiraled inside them like a tornado. Soft, and sweet, and full of love. One that promised that it was the two of them until the end of time.

Minho’s head start to spin even more as he melted into Jisung’s touch. Feeling his knees close to buckling, he held on to Jisung tighter, pulling the younger boy closer to him.

Jisung’s tongue grazes Minho’s lips, and that’s when Minho’s hands lift from Jisung’s shoulders to his hands. He holds onto Jisung’s wrists and pries them off his face, breaking the kiss as soon as he could turn away.

He pushes Jisung away, taking a step away from the younger as well.

The first of his tears fall, angry and sad and frustrated. “You can’t do this!”

He shakes his head at Jisung, glaring at the boy. He was shaking, his fists clenched by his sides. He was tired. “You don’t just _kiss_ me, and then it all goes away!”

“I know it won’t go away, but—“

“No, you don’t!” Minho raked his fingers through his hair again. “You don’t know, Jisung!”

He sat down on the one-seater, shaking his head as he buried in in his palms, elbows propped on his knees as he let out a heartbroken sob. Jisung simply looked at Minho, not daring to take the three steps closer unless he be pushed away again.

Minho lifted his face from his hands, resting his chin on his clasped fingers. His nose was red from the crying, his eyes almost as puffy as his kiss-swollen lips. He turned to Jisung, inhaling a shaky breath. “I used to see you as someone that can never, ever, _ever_ hurt me.”

They had their fair share of fights, but it was never like this. It never hurt to the point Minho felt the walls closing in on him and his lungs rejecting any and all traces of oxygen.

“Jisung, I don’t think we should be together anymore.” Minho said it with finality this time, not unlike last night, which was nothing more that exhaustion speaking. This meant something. This was real. “For real, this time.”

“No.” Chan gasped as he shared a look with the five boys he was with. They were all back to their original positions, everything else forgotten except for their friends outside of the bedroom.

“He doesn’t mean that, does he?” Jeongin croaked out.

Jisung shook his head, getting on his knees in front of Minho. He took Minho’s hands, pressing his lips on the older’s knuckles in small kisses. “Minho, no. I can’t live without you.”

“Without these hands.” Jisung said as he kissed up Minho’s arms. “These arms.”

He lifted himself from the floor, sitting on the armrest as he held Minho’s shoulders. “Without these shoulders.”

He ran his fingers through Minho’s hair, grazing Minho’s ears. “Without these ears.”

He hugged Minho as best he can, pressing his cheek on the crown on Minho’s head, letting out a sob before he continued. “Without this heart. Without _your_ heart.”

He couldn’t live without Minho’s everything. Minho _is_ his everything.

His hand was resting on Minho’s heart, his other arm holding on to Minho tightly. Minho sobbed again, shaking himself out of Jisung hold. “I can’t, Jisung.”

He sat on the coffee table, not trusting his legs to keep himself upright for too long. “No matter what you say, or what you do, things just changed, Jisung.”

“Minho, nothing’s changed.” Jisung cried. “I still love you. You still love me, too, right?”

Minho looks straight ahead, expression blank. His eyes were fixated on Felix’s door, as if he knew that all of his friends were hiding behind it, shedding a few tears of their own as they pressed their ears against the wood so that they could hear them.

“Minho?” Jisung croaked when he doesn’t get an answer.

Minho snivels, forcing himself to his feet and trudging to his room, not looking back.

He won’t be able to go through with this if he looked back, if he saw how heartbroken Jisung looked.

The click of the lock reached Jisung’s ears, and he falls into the one-seater, slipping from the armrest. He lets out a broken sob, tears streaming down his face at the weight of the break-up.

It was real this time.

\----------

“Do you hear anything?” Seungmin asked Jeongin and Hyunjin, who were pressing their ears against the door. He and Felix were on the floor, his project half-finished between them. Chan and Changbin were on the bed, already having changed Felix’s bed and pillow dressings for lack of anything else to do.

“It’s still quiet.” Jeongin said. They’ve been waiting for any other sound for more than hour now, trying to check if the coast was clear. They were almost sure that Jisung has already left and that Minho was still locked away in his room.

“Let’s go, then.” Chan said. “Jisung must be all alone in the apartment.”

“Or with someone else.” Hyunjin shrugged casually, to which Jeongin glared at him. Hyunjin winced. “Too soon?”

“Yeah, you dill.” Felix said, a repeat of his earlier insult now aimed at Hyunjin instead of Changbin. He pushed himself off the floor and walked to the door, waiting for Hyunjin and Jeongin to step away before turning the knob open.

It clicks, unlocking. Felix pokes his head out, looking around the apartment to see Jisung nowhere in sight. He sees, however, Minho, on the dining table, a glass of water in front of his as he passed his finger around the rim, head cast down.

Minho looks up at the sound of the door opening, heartbroken eyes flashing between confusion and recognition before mellowing back to heartbroken.

Felix’s heart breaks at the sight. He steps out of his room, making his way to Minho to wrap the boy in a hug. The lights in the living room were turned off, the light in the kitchen somehow making the atmosphere a little more desolate than it already is.

“Were you there the whole time?” Minho asked, his voice cracking. He didn’t know what to think about his and Jisung’s break-up having an audience, but he was too anguished to think of anything else at the moment.

Felix nodded and sat next to Minho, opening his arms and waiting for the older to fall into his embrace. Minho doesn’t hesitate and leans into Felix’s touch. “I’m so sorry, Minho.”

“It was for the best.” Minho whispered as Changbin and Hyunjin stepped out as well.

Minho looked at them before back at the half-full glass of water on the table.

“Minho...” Hyunjin trailed off.

“Don’t worry about it, guys.” Minho said. “I don’t blame you.”

He looks at Changbin, somber eyes pleading. “Can you make sure he’s okay?”

Changbin nods and makes his way to Minho, ruffling his hair carefully. “The others are still inside.”

“I’ll be in my room.” Minho says as he breaks away from both Felix and Changbin. He stands, gulping down the rest of his water before walking to his bedroom and closing the door behind him.

“Is he gone?” Jeongin asked from behind Hyunjin, still half-inside Felix’s room.

“Yeah.” Hyunjin sighed.

“Is there really no fixing this?” he asked next.

Hyunjin shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'd just like to thank you for reading *^^* and please do leave comments and kudos hehe. And you can visit my [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/water_lili_es) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93) if you'd like to say other things! I appreciate the constructive criticism :>>
> 
> I hope all of you stay healthy and safe!! Thank you once again for reading!!


	5. Chapter 5

Finals came and went and a few days later, it was the weekend and start of semestrial break. Three full weeks of free time dedicated to relaxing and unwinding, and Seungmin and Jeongin decided to spend the first day lounging in the living room. Well, mostly Seungmin, since Jeongin was going to be heading out soon.

“Hey, guys.” Chan greeted as he entered the apartment, going straight to the kitchen counter to brew himself some coffee. He could have made himself coffee in his apartment, but he woke up with a craving for the coffee beans that Jeongin buys.

“Hey.” Jeongin said from where he and Seungmin were seated. “Is Jisung in the apartment? We’re going to the arcade in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, he’s in the shower. He’ll be right over after.” Chan said as he switched the coffee brewer on.

Hearing the conversation, Hyunjin walks out of his room, dressed casually, and looks at Jeongin and Chan in slight horror. “Jisung’s coming here?”

“Yeah, why?” Jeongin asked, his tone taking its own dread, mixed with slight suspicion.

Hyunjin sucked in a breath. “I asked Minho to meet me here. We were going to go shopping.”

Seungmin groaned at Hyunjin’s answer, somehow still hoping that he was going to say anything other than Minho also coming to their apartment.

Chan chuckled and leaned against the counter so that he could face the three boys. “You act like they can’t be around each other.”

He knew that break-ups were hard. He also knew that three days were too short of a time to let go of the pain they were harbouring and begin to be civil with each other again, but he had blind faith in his friends that they were mature enough to be in the same room as one another without biting anyone’s head off.

He felt relieved that neither of them was holed up in their rooms on the first of their dozens of free days. Chan supposed that the rush of finals kept them distracted enough and they were milking the adrenaline before they allowed themselves to fully mourn the loss of their relationship.

It’s taken a toll on all of them. Their dynamic was thrown off balance. Between studying for finals and being the two’s emotional support system for the past days, the others still had no idea how to go about the break-up.

“That’s because they can’t.” Jeongin winced. “Yesterday, I was with Changbin in your apartment, and Minho came in to raid the fridge. And then Jisung walked out of his room. And then they started insulting each other.”

Chan grimaced. “I guess that’s what happens after break-ups. They’re mad instead of sad.”

“Hey, Hyunjin, you ready to go?” Minho said as he entered the apartment, unaware of the conversation he interrupted.

Hyunjin nodded, eager to get out of the apartment before Jisung arrived. “Yeah, let me just get my bag.”

“Wait, can I have a coffee first?” Minho asked as he caught sight of the brewing coffee next to Chan.

“I know a great cafe, it’s really near.” Hyunjin insisted as he ran out of his room, bag slung over his shoulder, making his way to Minho to drag him out before he could take a mug.

Minho raised a brow at the boy, pointing to the coffee machine. “Nearer than here?”

The door opens, a freshly showered Jisung stepping inside as he scanned the apartment for the youngest. “Jeongin, you good?”

Minho instantly rolls his eyes, walking past Chan to take a mug.

The apartment is silent as Jisung watches Minho take a mug and place it in front of the coffee machine. Jeongin gets to his feet, running over to Jisung and prodding at his arm. “Let’s go, buy me ice-cream!”

Minho snickered.

“What is it, Minho?” Jisung asked, a tincture of irritation in his voice.

Minho shrugged and turned to Jisung. “Nothing. I just realized that you buy ice-cream for everyone.”

Of course, how could he forget that his date with Lia started with ice-cream?

“Are we really doing this now?” Jisung asked through a small scowl. He wasn’t in the mood for another argument with Minho, they’ve argued left and right since they broke up, over small and petty things that neither of them would complain about otherwise.

“Sorry, were you talking to me or kissing someone else?” Minho asked in perfectly feigned curiosity, making Seungmin’s jaw drop at the exchange.

“Do you have a problem, Minho?” Jisung asked next.

“No, Jisung, but maybe you do.” Minho answered instantly.

Finals took a toll on them. It fast-tracked their healing process, jumping from depressed to irritated. It didn’t take two days until the once loving couple was reduced to bickering exes.

Changbin liked to think that their process of moving on was passing quickly, and soon they’ll be able to be at least civil with each other, once the anger fizzled out. Jeongin and Felix agreed, although reluctantly. It was weird to all of them, that Minho and Jisung weren’t together anymore.

“Guys, seriously.” Seungmin said from where he was on the sofa. “I know you two broke up, and we get that you’re moving on in some weird, passive-aggressive method, but can you not do it in front of us?”

“Seungmin.” Chan said calmly as he poured two mugs of coffee. He sighed then glanced at Jisung and Minho on either side of him. “Has a point. I know it’s hard for you two, but we don’t want to fall apart.”

Jisung and Minho stare at each other before turning away simultaneously. Minho lifts the mug to his lips, blowing away the steam, whilst Jisung lets Jeongin tugs him out of the apartment.

“You can’t keep fighting with him.” Chan sighed before he took a sip of the hot drink.

“I know, but I’m trying to move on.” Minho took two gulps of the coffee before placing it on the dining table. “Seungmin, you can have the rest.”

Hyunjin and Minho leave the apartment.

“It’s been three days.” Seungmin grumbled as he walked to the dining table to take the mug of coffee. “Who knows what would happen in three weeks?”

* * *

Three days later, Jisung wakes up to a text from Minho. It was sent half an hour before he woke up and Jisung sighs. Minho always was a morning person, ignoring the days he’d be too lazy to get out of bed, wanting to spend the day under the sheets and cuddling.

Jisung’s felt a pinch at his chest at the myriad of memories that contained exactly that scenario: the two of them in bed, not wanting to get up and face the world because they were content in _their own_ little world; forced out of bed by their friends, half the time losing against the couple and the other half winning.

He shakes his head from the thoughts, opting to see what Minho wanted.

Maybe he was going to apologize for last night. The two of them have ended up bickering over dinner at one of their (all eight of them) favourite restaurants. They were regulars there, and it was rather quaint, so the sight of two of the group throwing jabs at each other didn’t bother anyone except the other six they were with.

 **Minho:  
** Hey, Jisung. Can you come over today? I’ll be home all day, so you can come any time you like.

He’s confused, to say the least. He wasn’t expecting a cheesy good morning— he was starting to accept the fact that he wasn’t going to get one of those for a while.

He lays there for a handful of seconds, not knowing what to type. The day after their break-up, he and Minho have fallen into a mutual feud, the both of them snapping at each other any chance they get, which wasn’t a lot given the finals, but ever since the break started, they were with their friends a lot often now, which made a lot of room for their arguments.

He didn’t want to argue with Minho, but he didn’t want to back down, either. Minho would initiate it one day, then Jisung the next, and the two would get lost in sarcastic comments until a third party would interfere with them.

He didn’t know what to feel. Breaking up with Minho— for real this time, it seems— is still an overwhelmingly foreign concept to him that he has no idea how to act when he sees the older with his friends— their friends. Before he can call on his better judgement, he’s already engaging in a squabble with his ex-boyfriend.

 **Jisung:**  
I’ll be there in an hour, then.

He swings his legs out of bed, sitting up and stretching. He doesn’t know what Minho wants, for the first time in what feels like forever. He’s spent over a year knowing exactly what was on Minho’s mind, even before they were dating.

Maybe he wants to get back together.

A small, treacherous spark of hope lights within Jisung as he exits his bedroom and sees Changbin and Chan preparing breakfast. He doesn’t realize that there was a small, dubious, smile on his face until Changbin points it out, loading bread inside the toaster.

“What’s that smile for?” he asked. “Good news?”

Jisung sits on the dining table, shrugging. He wanted to hope, but then the image of Minho and him crying less than a week ago came back, telling him that they were over, and that they were going to stay that way. “I... don’t know.”

Jisung wished it was good news. He wished that Minho and he can still work things out. Their break-up almost a week ago was dramatic, and Jisung would be lying if throughout the week, he never wished that that night never happened at all.

It doesn’t deflate the miniscule speck of hope completely. He plays with him phone, placed in front of him on the table. “Minho wants to meet up. Maybe he...”

“That’s good news, then.” Chan beams as he placed a plate of eggs in the middle of the table. He smiled at Jisung, leaning over to hug the seated boy.

“I don’t want to get my hopes up.” Jisung said as Chan let go of him and went back to fetch plates for the three of them. “But maybe?”

“Good, we’re tired of the bickering.” Changbin jokes, lightheartedly, as he sets the plate of stacked toast next to the eggs.

After breakfast, Jisung takes a shower, and then heads out, to Felix and Minho’s apartment. He walks inside without knocking, like always, because a large part of him still wanted to believe that nothing much has changed; they can still walk inside each other’s apartments like they owned the place.

He sees Minho standing in front of the television, arms crossed as he looked at a medium sized box that was placed on the coffee table. The box’s lid was on the table as well, and Minho looked as if he was examining its contents.

Felix had left half an hour ago to go window-shopping with Seungmin, leaving Minho alone in the apartment. Minho looks up at the sound of the door, eyes flashing with instant recognition when he sees Jisung. He sighs, closing the lid. “Hey.”

“Hey, you wanted to see me?” Jisung asked as he made his way to the sofa, standing in front of it so that only the coffee table was between him and Minho.

Minho’s eyes weren’t unreadable— hours of looking into them made sure of that— and his lips were twitching upwards then downwards. He takes a deep breath, nodding, and gestures to the box. “I wanted to give you this.”

“This?” Jisung asked, nonplussed, as he slid the box closer to his side of the coffee table before opening it.

The contents of the box almost broke Jisung’s heart. Minho really was good at doing that, no surprise. A wave of nostalgia and regret and confusion washed over Jisung features as he reached inside the box, pulling out one of the items inside.

“What?” he asked, almost scoffing in disbelief, as he holds on to the book he grabbed on to.

Inside were Jisung’s things. Things that he’d left at Minho’s. Some of them Jisung even forgot he owned, from how long they’ve stayed with the older.

“I thought I should give you back your stuff.” Minho avoided his eyes, shrugging as he did so. “We’re not dating anymore, so there’s no point keeping them with me.”

“What do you mean there’s no point anymore?” Jisung asked, brows curled together.

“I just mean that...” Minho takes a breath and lets it out. “I should return your stuff. It’s useless here now, anyway.”

“Useless—“ Jisung practically wheezed out. “There are memories!”

“Of you.” Minho nodded with a frown. “And I don’t want them anymore.”

It hurt Minho to say that, and by the twitch in Jisung’s brow, he knew that it hurt Jisung just as much. Neither of them could have seen this coming, but here it was and they had to deal with it in any and every way that they can.

Jisung drops the book, looks inside the box again, and he clicks his tongue in frustration when he sees a mug in the corner. He lifts it, shaking the ceramic in Minho’s direction. “This was a gift!”

Minho eyes the mug, then looks away again. “Yeah, but you use it more than I do, anyway.”

“Still, you can’t return a _gift_!” Jisung said. “I got this for you when we went to that museum.”

Minho reaches out, brows furrowed. “Fine, give it back.”

Jisung pulls away before Minho can touch it. He frowns. “No, you don’t deserve it.”

Minho looks at him, astonished, not knowing what Jisung wanted him to do with the mug. Jisung huffed, placing the mug back inside the box and began rummaging through it. He was looking for something, _anything_ , simply to be petty.

“Hey,” he says accusingly when a thought comes to him. “something’s not here.”

He looks at Minho, narrowing his eyes at the confused boy. Minho was sure that all of Jisung’s things were packed away, he made sure of it. He spent all night and all morning looking through the apartment just in case, even making sure to check Felix’s room as well.

“What’s not there?” Minho asked, now slightly exasperated.

“My shirt.” Jisung says, teeth gritted a little. “It’s not here.”

“Jisung, it has to be there.” Minho rolled his eyes. He even packed away the hoodies he didn’t want to part from, because they were _Jisung’s_ , and he no more had the right to keep them hostage in his closet, like the rest of Jisung’s clothes that he was surprised fit inside the box.

“No, it’s not.” Jisung answered with a dry laugh, proud that he found something to pick at. “My tie-dye one.”

Minho gasps, arms crossing at he looks at Jisung accusingly. He knows the exact shirt that Jisung was referring to, and he found that it was only right that he feel offended for the younger wanting it back. “You know I love wearing that shirt to sleep.”

Jisung sticks his tongue out, pointing inside the box. “I don’t care. It’s _mine_! I want it back.”

“I’m keeping that shirt, Jisung.” Minho hisses, teeth gritting between his words.

Jisung shakes his head. “No! You’re giving me my stuff back, remember?”

They stare at each other challengingly, forcing the other to fold, but after Jisung makes it clear that he can be as stubborn as the word itself, Minho grits his teeth harder, shaking his head at the younger.

“ _You_ ,” he practically spits out as he retreats into his bedroom, voice rising so that Jisung can hear him from inside. “are a petty, petty, _petty_ man.”

He finds the shirt as soon as he opens his closet. He wears it at least once a week. It was his favourite shirt of Jisung’s that he’s kept for himself, and he was clearly not happy about parting with it. He’d taken it from Jisung not even a week after they started dating, when Minho slept over once and Jisung lent it to him. He hasn’t returned it since.

“This doesn’t even fit you.” Minho groused as he rolled up the shirt and shoved it in Jisung’s awaiting palm.

“I don’t care, I’m keeping it.” Jisung said mockingly as he threw it inside his box and closed it. He lifted the box, eyes still narrowed at Minho. “If that’s all, then I’ll be going.”

“Go, then.” Minho snarled before marching into his room, still irritated that Jisung took his shirt.

* * *

The box of Jisung’s things is dropped on top of the sofa, startling Changbin who was seated on it as well. Jisung scoffed, hands flying in the air as he paces in front of the television, effectively blocking Changbin’s view of it.

“He gave me back my stuff!” Jisung complained as he glared at the box. “It hasn’t been a week!”

Changbin tilted his head at Jisung before turning the box next to him. “Jisung, it didn’t take you an hour to go and find someone else to take on a date.”

Jisung stops walking, his glare now pointed at Changbin, who winces at the intensity of it. “Don’t rub it in.”

“Look, I’m sorry you didn’t get back together.” Changbin sighed as he opened the box to look through it. “But he’s moving on. Don’t you think you should, too?”

Jisung scoffed, crossing his arms. “Move on? Six days? And he says I got over _him_ fast?”

Changbin bites his tongue from another remark about how Jisung went out with Lia half an hour after their first break-up. It wasn’t a forbidden issue to talk about, being something Minho and Jisung were quick to lace with sarcasm and dark humour, and the friends naturally fell into the impression that they can bring it up as jokes and jabs every now and then.

Now didn’t seem like the time, though, so Changbin simply shrugged. “He’s trying, isn’t he?”

Yeah, he is. Minho was trying to move on. He was trying to get rid of whatever image he had of Jisung, however tainted it was now. He was trying his best to go back to when he saw Jisung as nothing more than a friend, or maybe even a stranger, whatever fate would allow him.

Jisung knew that Minho was trying, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. Not when he was still beating himself up over kissing someone else. Not when he said he wasn’t going to lose Minho this time around, only to lose him not even twelve hours later.

Jisung huffed, walked to Changbin and took the box in his hands again. “If he can do it, then so can I.”

He disappears into his room after that, as quickly as he came, leaving Changbin alone with the television again.

* * *

It’s early in the evening that Minho comes back after walking around the city with Chan. They didn’t do anything worthwhile aside from their usual caffeine fill. They strolled around the streets, relishing in their well-earned free time.

Felix is seated on the dining table, on his laptop, and he smiled at Minho when he entered. “Hey, Jisung stopped by earlier, dropped something off real quick.”

“Hmm?” Minho mumbled, initially not paying attention until he hears the name from Felix. Then he sees a box, the exact same one that he gave Jisung this morning, sitting on top of the coffee table. “Oh.”

“He said it was your things, but I didn’t open them.” Felix answered as he went back to what he was doing on his laptop.

Minho nodded in understanding, walking to the living room. He sits on the one seater and pulls the box closer to the edge of the coffee table, finding it a little too light to contain _all_ of his things that were in Jisung’s possession.

He rolls his eyes, still bitter about the loss of his favourite sleeping shirt. He wouldn’t be surprised if all Jisung gave back was his toothbrush and a bottle of shampoo, maybe a book or two he forgot he left there, and maybe a hoodie and shirt if he felt generous, or maybe pants, too.

In all honesty, Minho wouldn't mind if Jisung kept his things. He's been living with the mindset that what's his was Jisung's for too long that he's not sure which of his things were his or Jisung's. He had a hard time figuring it out this morning as he filtered through his things and tried to figure out if this and that was his or Jisung's.

“Is everything okay?” Felix asked after he looked up from his laptop to see Minho staring inside the opened box. The boy’s lips were pressed into a thin line, eyes trained on something inside the carton.

“Minho?” Felix called when the older didn’t answer.

Minho shook himself out of his daze and spared Felix a glance before he turned back to the box. He placed the lid on his lap and reached inside, his fingers curling around the fabric.

“Yeah,” he breathes out as he pulls out the tie-dye shirt that he and Jisung fought over this morning, now back in his hands. A small smile tugs at his lips as he closes the box again and stands. “everything’s fine.”

He holds the shirt to his chest, making his way to his room. “I’m going to get ready for bed now.”


	6. Chapter 6

Jisung smiled when he walked inside his apartment to see most of his friends there. The only people absent were Minho and Changbin, but that was okay. It was easy to get word around within their group, anyway.

He had gotten back from the library, having returned some books he borrowed before finals and suddenly felt like returning them even when the textbooks weren’t due until a week after classes resumed. He stayed at the park after, wanting some fresh air and time alone.

“Great, you’re here.” Jisung said, grabbing the attention of the five boys who were watching a movie together in the living room. “How about we all go somewhere tomorrow? Shopping? Arcade?”

Their semestrial break had just started and all they’ve been doing was switching between the two three-person apartments and lazing around all day. Jisung thought that outside time would be good for them since it has been a while since all of them went out together.

Chan and Jeongin looked at each other whilst Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Felix grimaced at the suggestion. Jisung furrowed his brows at the reactions. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Well, you see...” Felix started, looking to the others for help.

Hyunjin sighed and turned to Jisung apologetically. “Minho already asked us if we wanted to see a movie tomorrow.”

“You can come, too, I’m sure Minho wouldn’t mind.” Jeongin added. They _were_ all friends, after all. Minho and Jisung insisted that nothing should change because they were broken up so hanging out together shouldn’t be a problem for them.

Jisung let out a sound between a snort and a laugh, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. Watch a movie with Minho. I’ll just sleep all day or something.”

“Are you sure?” Chan asked. “I can not go, let’s hang out.”

“No, no!” Jisung said, trying to sound as sincere and convincing as possible. “It’s fine, I swear. I get it, it must be hard for you guys, too, since we’re both your friends.”

Jisung knew that he could ask some of them to stay if he really wanted to, Minho’s didn’t _own_ their friends, but now that the thought of sleeping all day crossed his mind, he found it extremely tempting to do anything else but that.

Seungmin’s smile was both apologetic and grateful as he sighed. “Thanks, Jisung. I really hope you and Minho go back to being friends soon. We miss you two.”

“I hope so, too.” Jisung shrugged and plopped down on the sofa next to Chan to watch the movie with them.

He and Minho saw each other in passing this morning, when Jisung left his apartment and Minho and Felix were about to walk inside the one across. He and Felix exchanged ‘good morning’s whilst he and Minho barely glanced at each other. He thought that was the end of it until he took one step and heard Minho call his name.

“Thanks for giving the shirt back.” he said before Jisung even had the time to turn around, and when he did, Minho was already inside the apartment, greeting Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin a good morning.

Jisung smiled a little to himself, but he wasn’t going to admit that to anyone anytime soon.

He doesn’t know why he gave the shirt back after making a fuss out of it, but he didn’t regret it. When he started piling Minho’s things yesterday, he _knew_ that the shirt was Minho’s; has been for a while now, and it felt only felt right to give it back.

Maybe he and Minho can go back to being friends soon. It was going to take some work, but if they were both willing to put in the effort then he didn’t see why not.

“How about we go to the arcade the day after tomorrow?” Felix asked and pulled Jisung out of his musings. The rest of the boys nodded in agreement, so Jisung did as well, happy that he was going to spend time with his friends soon.

“Hey guys, guess what.” Changbin said as he and Minho walked inside. Changbin looked eager to share the news whilst Minho glanced at Jisung a second longer than he wanted to, not sure if he wanted Jisung to be here when Changbin told the others.

But then again, why would Jisung care? No, why should Minho be wary of Jisung’s reaction when they’re not even together anymore? Jisung wasn’t obligated to care and Minho wasn’t obligated to be wary of his reaction anymore.

“We were at the cafe and this guy walked up to us and asked for Minho’s number.” Changbin said as he sat on the arm rest of the one-seater where Seungmin was sat, his feet almost kicking Felix, who was on the floor, as he did so. “He said that Minho was handsome and asked if he was single. So I said that Minho was, in fact, not dating anybody.”

Changbin’s words would have hurt if not for the reality of it all. This was their friends’ way of reminding them of the break-up, and that everything will be okay, and that they can still be in each other’s lives and see other people.

Minho and Jisung were grateful for it, subconsciously using it as a push towards moving on from each other. They knew that their friends wanted to keep both of them in the group and didn’t want either of them to phase out, but if they wanted to stay broken up then they were going to respect that decision.

“Did you give it to him?” Hyunjin asked Minho. He was aware of Jisung’s presence on the other side of Chan, all of them were, but if they were going to make Minho and Jisung either get back together or ease back into friends, they needed to let the two know that their break-up wasn’t a problem for the group and that they were accepting of it.

The boy in question kissed his teeth, glancing at Jisung again before turning back to the others. “I mean... he wasn’t a creepy ass dude, so why not?”

“He was okay.” Changbin shrugged, attention now on the movie.

Jisung and Minho met eyes, and before any of them could look away, Minho’s phone buzzed from his pocket. He slipped it out and read his text, Jeongin tilting his head when he noticed.

“Who is it?” he asked as Minho typed in a reply.

Minho continues to type as he answers the question. “The guy from the cafe. He was checking if he had the right number.”

“Oh.” Felix replied with a grin that went unnoticed by the others.

Jisung turns back to the movie, not at all understanding anything that was playing on the screen.

How Minho could do this when he was in the same room as Jisung, he wasn’t sure, but Jisung would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt. It’s only been a week since they broke up, how could Minho find someone else that fast?

 _You found ‘someone else’ in less than an hour._ his mind reminded him and he fought the urge to scowl.

He knew that he was being unreasonable for thinking of something like that. It wasn’t like he and Minho were still together when he and Lia kissed. And he knows that Minho wasn’t the type of person to hold it against him for long, nor were their friends, but he’s beginning to understand how Minho felt when he found out about him and Lia, broken up or otherwise.

He risked a glance at Minho and saw the small, amused quirk in the corner of his lips as he continued to text the boy he met. He was seated on the floor next to Felix, his housemate sneaking glances at the phone and the older paying him no mind.

* * *

“How was the arcade?” Minho asked Felix when the younger gets back from hanging out with Jisung and the others. Minho had gotten home himself not two hours ago, meeting up with the stranger from two days ago for a cup of coffee since everyone else was spending the day at the arcade.

He liked the boy’s company, he was easy to talk to, easy to joke with. They spent an hour longer than they intended to but neither of them minded the unplanned extension. The boy offered to walk Minho to his apartment but he refused, wanting to walk around by himself for some time before going home.

“It was fun.” Felix answered as he fixed himself a glass of water. “Would have been better with you, though.”

“We were at the movies yesterday.” Minho chuckled as he continued to type on his laptop.

Felix sighed. “Yeah, but, it’s different when all of us are together, you know?”

It’s quiet and Minho heaves a sigh of his own, nodding. “Yeah, I know.”

“Anyway,” Felix quickly diverted the topic, drinking from his glass before resuming. “how was your date with that guy?”

Minho shrugged. “It wasn’t a date. And he’s okay.”

“How okay?” Felix asked as he sat next to Minho on the sofa. “Is he ‘new boyfriend’ okay?”

Minho chuckled and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. He was pretty chill, but I don’t think I’m ready for another relationship.”

Felix hummed as he nodded. “Okay, if you say so.”

“Why? Wanna meet him?” Minho asked with a coy smile.

Felix laughed as he shook his head. “No, just wanted to know if you’ve moved on.”

“I’m trying, Felix, really.” Minho said sincerely as he turned to look at Felix with a slightly sad smile. “It hurts, yeah, but this is good for the both of us.”

“I know.” Felix answered with a small pout. “I just wish you and him didn’t fight all the time.”

Minho’s smile turned fonder. “Friends fight, right? Jisung and I are a long way from okay, but we can still be friends in a few weeks’ time.”

Felix nodded. If Minho believed that he and Jisung were going to make up soon then he was going to believe him. After all, no one knew Minho and Jisung better than Minho and Jisung.

* * *

“Do you guys have anything to do in three days?” Jisung asked the next morning when he walked inside the apartment across the hall. Hyunjin and Seungmin were on the sofa with Changbin on the one-seater. Chan was seated on the floor in front of the coffee table and the four of them were playing a board game.

“Not really.” Chan answered as he rolled the dice. “Why?”

“Let’s go to the beach! I saw a resort suite that was on a discout.” Jisung beamed as he sat next to Seungmin, who looked at him. Jisung quickly looked at the group of four. “Minho didn’t ask any of you to go out yet, right? I’m following the rules.”

“There are no rules, Jisung.” Changbin chuckled as Chan ended his turn. “And yeah, I don’t have plans. If the others don’t, too, then let’s go.”

“Wouldn’t it be a little mean to leave Minho here, though?” Seungmin asked with a small pout.

Jisung sighed, leaning back into the sofa as Changbin rolled the dice. “He can go if he wants to. But if he can’t stomache the idea of me then he’s welcome to stay here by himself.”

“I’m proud of you.” Hyunjin smiled as he reached over Seungmin to pat Jisung’s knee. “You can say his name without frowning.”

Jisung’s brow shoots up at the comment. “Why? Can’t _he_?”

“He can,” Hyunjin said as he took the dice in his hands, shaking it in his loose fist. “just thought you couldn’t.”

After all, Minho was more at fault than Jisung was, and they all knew it, even Minho. It wouldn’t be surprising if Jisung was still hurting and couldn’t be bothered to try to hide it.

“I can say his _name_ , Hyunjin.” Jisung said with a click of his tongue, glaring at the knee that the boy touched. “It’s not like he’s going to appear if I do.”

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Jeongin greeted as he entered the apartment, Felix and Minho in tow. Seungmin snorts as Minho closes the door, Changbin and Chan stifling their own laughs.

Minho notices the stares, eyes landing on Jisung as he narrows them in question. Jisung narrows his eyes in return, rolling them after a moment. “I didn’t talk shit about you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wasn’t saying anything, no need to be so defensive.” Minho answered.

“Okay, before _that_ escalates.” Chan cuts them off. “Wanna go to the beach in a few days? Jisung found a suite on sale.”

“Sounds good.” Felix nodded as he raided the fridge with Jeongin, who echoed his approval.

Chan looks to Minho, waiting for his response. “Minho?”

“Oh, I’m invited, too?” Minho asked. “I thought Jisung and I weren’t allowed in the same room.”

“You can book your own room, we won’t mind.” Jisung said in a menacingly polite tone as he smiled at Minho with every ounce of sarcasm he could muster in three seconds.

Minho returns the sarcasm. “If you can handle me then I’m sure I can, too.”

“Good.” Jisung says curtly.

“Good.” Minho echoes.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

They scowled at each other before turning away again, the other six boys collectively sighing at the exchange.

“I’ll book the room.” Jisung said as he stood, walking to the door to retreat to his apartment, passing by Minho who wordlessly stepped out of the way and sat down on the spot Jisung had just stood from.

* * *

“Ah! The beach!” Hyunjin and Jeongin ran up to the shoreline as the others went inside the resort to check in. The two have come in their swimming attires, already planning to ditch the others as soon as they set foot in the resort.

“I got a four bedroom suite, so let’s just figure it out later.” Jisung said as he and the others piled inside the elevator, leaving Hyunjin and Jeongin outside to bask in the sunlight.

“Oh, I reserved a table for dinner tonight, so we can’t forget about that.” Chan said and the group nodded just as the elevator opened.

“Oh, wow, this is nice.” Seungmin said as they entered the suite. To the left of the entrance was a balcony overlooking the beach next to the living room, large enough for all of them to stay outside and stargaze comfortably, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. To the right were the four bedrooms, all of the doors closed as it awaited its next occupants.

“Let’s just draw lots later or something.” Chan suggested as he dropped his bang in the sofa. “Let’s join the other two downstairs.”

They change into their swimming attires, some in the bathrooms and some in the rooms, and when Jisung comes out from a bedroom, he sees Minho seated next to everyone’s bags, texting.

“He and that guy are getting pretty close.” Felix whispered to Jisung when he steps out from a room and sees where his friend’s focus is.

“Oh.” Jisung intoned. “Okay, then. Glad he’s moving on.”

Felix hummed and patted Jisung on the back, bringing him to the living room to wait for the others.

“Damn, Jisung is popular.” Seungmin chuckled from where he was seated on the sand as a third group of friends walked up to Jisung, who was in the ocean with Chan and Hyunjin. Jeongin, Felix, and Changbin were a dozen or so feet away, the former two burying the latter in the sand.

Minho shrugged from next to Seungmin, watching Jisung smiling and shaking his head politely at the three giggling girls. “He always was. Pretty hard not to stare when his smile is a heart.”

“I mean, at least he can move on quick, right?” Seungmin asked, hoping that Minho would give him a sincere answer.

Again, Minho shrugged, looking away from the ocean to stare at his feet. “Yeah. I guess that’s true.”

“Do you not want him to?” Seungmin asked. He’s been with Jisung and Minho since high school, and seeing them broken up saddens him, but if they think it’s what’s best then he was in no position to argue. He only wanted his friends to be happy, with or without each other.

“No, I do.” Minho sighed. He turned back to where Jisung was and although they were too far to hear anything, Minho could swear he could hear the way Jisung was laughing at what one of the girls said. “Just wish it didn’t bother me seeing him with other people.”

“Hey, you two have been together for a year.” Seungmin said. “And you’ve been broken up for what? Two weeks? And still see each other every day. Of course, you’d be a bit bothered seeing things like that.”

Hyunjin saves Jisung from the girls, whisking him away but not before Jisung politely waves goodbye to the three. Minho nods as he turns back to his feet, burying them in the sand as he sighs. “Yeah, I know.”

Seungmin offered Minho a comforting smile. “Can you not fight with him anymore? I know it’s hard being with the same friend group as your ex but...”

“I can’t help it.” Minho laughed dryly. “When I see him, I remember what happened and... if I don’t start barking, then _he_ does, and then next thing you know, we’re at each other’s throats again.”

“Talk to him?” Seungmin suggested. “You know him better than any of us. You know how to get him to come around.”

The realization dawns on Minho, and he nods. He didn’t like bickering with Jisung anymore, boyfriends or otherwise. He wanted to at least be friends with him again. A forgotten memory knocks at the back of his mind, involving Minho and Jisung giggling to each other and linking pinkies in the first promise they made to each other as a couple. Minho’s forehead knocks with Jisung’s with their shoulders shaking as they laugh at the soon-forgotten promise, Minho shaking his head as he makes it so that their other fingers were laced together instead of just their pinkies.

“Okay.” he says, making a mental reminder to talk to Jisung tonight, to sort things out so that they can finally try to put their relationship and break-up behind them. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Jisung, are you sure you should be flirting with so many people?” Chan laughed as Hyunjin led the boy back to them.

Jisung grimaced. “I wasn’t flirting! It would be rude to ignore them, though.”

“Hey, I think it’s good.” Hyunjin commented with a pat to Jisung’s back. “There’s nothing wrong with talking to new people. Who knows, maybe you’ll like one of them.”

Jisung grimaced again. “Isn’t it too soon to start dating again?”

He doesn’t hear an answer to the question because he’s suddenly reminded of his ex, who’s with Seungmin by the shore, who’s been talking to a new guy and even met up with him a few days ago.

He doesn’t like it, the thought of Minho with someone else, but he has no rights over Minho now; not anymore. And if this is how Minho felt when he thought of Jisung with Lia, then Jisung could now understand why Minho wanted to end things so badly.

Jisung didn’t even know this guy, but Minho knew Lia, knew how she looked like and how she sounded. He had a vivid image of Jisung and Lia standing next to each other, whilst Jisung had little to no idea how this boy looked. So it must be harder for Minho, to have a face to visualize whilst Jisung went with nothing.

“Jisung?” Hyunjin pulled him out of his reverie.

“Hm?” Jisung looked at Hyunjin and Chan, trying to remember if they said anything but coming up with nothing.

Chan chuckled and flicked water at Jisung’s face. “Nothing.”

“Look, Minho is texting again.” Hyunjin chuckled after the three of them have played in the water for a while.

Chan and Jisung look to where Seungmin is asleep on the sand and Minho was on his phone, the boy chuckling every once and a while as he texted. Hyunjin smiled. “He and that cafe guy must be hitting it off nicely.”

“I hope he introduces him to us soon.” Chan said and turned to Jisung. “He probably won’t until it’s okay with Jisung.”

That hurt.

Minho introducing someone else as his boyfriend. For a year, he’s heard his own name in the same sentence as ‘boyfriend’ said in Minho’s voice. He doesn’t know how it sounds with someone else’s name. He doesn’t know how to say it himself, with a name that isn’t Minho’s.

He always figured that he and Minho would be together forever, but maybe he was wrong. And now Jisung is left trying to wrap his head around the idea of Minho being with someone else, and him being with someone else, because the concept is foreign, something that Jisung never realized was possible until two weeks ago.

But he and Minho made a promise to each other when they first started dating; and that was that no matter how bad of a break-up they have, if they ever do break-up, is that they’ll still be friends no matter what; because neither of them wanted to lose each other, even if they do somehow get caught up in a nasty break-up. It was a promise made between giggles and laughs, but it was one they fully intended to keep at the time it was made.

And Jisung will admit that their break-up could have been much _much_ worse. And Jisung will admit that he’s forgotten about that promise until now, because not until recently, he was so sure that that promise was never going to see the light of day. But as much as promises were meant to be broken, this was one he wanted to keep. Even without the promise, he’d still want to try and be friends with Minho.

“It’s okay with me.” Jisung says as he contains a sigh. “He can do whatever he wants, really. If he finds someone else, then I’ll be happy for him.”

He has to be, because Minho will also search his entire being to be happy for Jisung if Jisung was the one that found someone else to call his. He knows Minho as much as Minho knew him, and the promise from a year ago will not be disregarded.

“You know you can talk to us, right?” Hyunjin asked with a comforting smile.

Jisung chuckled as he nodded. “I know. And I will if I have to, but I’m not lying when I say it’s fine. Minho and I can stay as friends, and if he starts dating then good for him.”

He’s thankful that he comes off as sincere as he can be, because the last thing Jisung wanted was for Minho to think he couldn’t let go of him when Jisung truly _did_ want Minho to be happy. He knows that Minho wants the same, he wants Jisung to be happy, too.

Chan doesn’t push further, only flicks water at Jisung’s face again, earning a hearty laugh from the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I was supposed to say this in the last chapter but it completely slipped my mind hehe :P but thank you so much for reading! And all your comments, I read all of them hehe and I get how annoyed everyone is with Minho, because I am too :P the number of hours I had to stop writing to either forget about how unreasonable Minho was being or to try to think of a way to give him some type of redemption is _exhausting_ , so reading your comments, about Minho and his pettiness or not, really brings a smile to my face, because it means I'm doing something right with this story hehe *^^*
> 
> Again, thanks so so much for reading! I love reading your comments, please send more ahaha *^^*


	7. Chapter 7

After dinner, the friends are back at the beach, the majority of them playing in the ocean whilst Jeongin and Jisung are by the shore, content with watching the others splash around like middle-schoolers instead of the college students that they are.

There are a handful of other people still at the beach but it’s considerably late now, so most people are in their hotel rooms and suites, getting ready for bed if they’re not already fast asleep. There is a luminous pearl hanging in the black sky of the night, decorated by sparkling stars that twinkles the way an overjoyed child’s would.

It’s second nature by now, for Jisung’s senses and subconscious to automatically amplify every little thing Minho does. To Jisung, Minho’s smiles were a little brighter than they were to everyone else. Minho’s eyes were the type of alluring and hypnotizing that Jisung knew his mind made up because no one else but him could so easily get lost in Minho’s stare.

His laughs are a little louder than everyone else’s, lingering and ringing in his eardrums a fraction of a second longer before being replaced by a new wave of his giggles. Even in the dark of the night, Minho’s skin is glowing under the moonlight in a way their other friends’ aren’t. It’s a figment of Jisung’s imagination, one that he doesn’t know how to tune out because he never needed to and because he’s been so used to living with Minho being front and center that he doubts he’d be able to.

“You’re staring at him.” Jeongin comments from where he’s seated cross-legged on the sand next to Jisung, who’s in the same position. There are indescribable shapes drawn into the sand in front of Jeongin, the boy’s index finger digging into the sand and drawing more. Jeongin started with drawing a flower but then passed his palm through the doodle to start writing all their names in the sand, erasing it after and deciding to draw a house.

Jisung doesn’t tear his eyes away from Minho and Felix wrestling in the sea. Hyunjin and Chan are cheering them on whilst Seungmin and Changbin are having their own game of who can find seashells. He sighs. “I know.”

“I saw you caught people’s attention earlier.” Jeongin said idly as he drew a sun. “Was there anyone that caught your eye?”

“I don’t think I’m looking for a new relationship right now.” Jisung answered honestly. He wasn’t going to say that he was hoping that he and Minho would get back together because he was already easing into the idea that that wasn’t going to happen. Seeing your ex every day was a pain but it was what Jisung had to put up with, Minho, too. “I’m going to enjoy being single for a while before thinking of dating again.”

“Do you think Minho thinks like that, too?” Jeongin asked. There wasn’t anything other than pure curiosity in his voice. “Felix told me that he seems to have gotten along with that guy from before.”

They all seemed to have come into a silent agreement to ask Jisung about Minho’s moving on progress. What they were trying to achieve, Jisung wasn’t sure he wanted to admit.

“I don’t know.” Jisung replied. This was the second time that Minho’s potential new boyfriend was brought up to him today and he knows that if there’s a third then he can’t ignore the bitter taste in the back of his throat anymore. “If he gets into a new relationship then good for him.”

“I guess.” Jeongin shrugged. “Is it okay with you, though?”

Jisung breathed out a laugh, facing away from the boys in the sea to look at Jeongin. He gave his friend a sad but sincere smile. “What Minho does isn’t up to me anymore, Innie.”

“I know, but...” Jeongin bit his lip, choosing his words. “you broke up almost two weeks ago, and you’ve been together for a year. Isn’t it too fast to move on to someone else?”

“I don’t know.” Jisung said. He really didn’t. “But I know some people who get out of long, serious relationships and find someone else in days. Maybe it’s different for everyone, maybe Minho is one of those people, maybe not.”

“But it bothers you.” Jeongin states. “It bothers you that there might be someone else in Minho’s life now.”

Jeongin wasn’t intending to rile Jisung up, he wasn’t planning to get a reaction out of him. He was simply curious. He wanted to understand. He wanted to know how and why Jisung managed to look mostly unbothered that some random guy walked up to Minho and asked for his number and Minho just gave it to him, then proceeded to go on a date with the guy. Meanwhile there was Minho earlier, with a small scowl on his face that he most likely didn’t notice was there as person after person walked up to Jisung and flirted with him.

Jeongin wanted to understand why it was Minho acting the way he is when it was Jisung that had more right to do so.

“I’m just not used to it.” Jisung turned his gaze to the moon. “I’m sure he’ll be the same.”

Jeongin drops the subject when Seungmin and Changbin get out of the water, ready to call it a day and retreat to the suite. Jeongin follows them, claiming the only reason he was still outside was because he didn’t want to be alone in the hotel room. Jisung is left alone on the sand as he watches with a smile at how Chan and Felix tackle Hyunjin into the water and Minho almost loses his balance laughing.

It’s another half hour before the others retreat for the night, leaving Minho in the water. Jisung still sits in the sand as the other three pass him, Chan ruffling his hair as they say good night to Jisung.

Jisung’s legs are now folded in front of him instead of curled under him and his arms are crossed over his knees, his chin propped on a bent elbow. Jisung watches as Minho’s head disappears into the water before it pops back up, the boy shaking his head and wiping the water from his face. Minho does this for a short while, something Jisung knows Minho does when he’s alone in the water.

The bubbles. He breathes out through his nose under the water to make bubbles.

Once Minho has played enough, he starts to make his way to shore, stopping in his tracks when he sees Jisung in the sand and their eyes lock.

“You’re still here.” Minho said as he reached for his towel a few feet away, where everyone else’s stuff laid until they took it back with them to the hotel. He thought that Jisung left when Jeongin did. Never once looked back to see if he thought right because he wanted to fool himself with the thought of Jisung’s eyes on him.

If he looked back into the beach, he’d have found out that he wasn’t imagining things and that the feeling of Jisung’s eyes on him was real and not something his mind conjured up as a sense of comfort; a childish part of him telling him that even when strangers were throwing themselves at Jisung, Jisung will only look at him.

That was before, he knew that, but he doesn’t know how else to think. Minho doesn’t know how else to abate the jealousy brewing inside of him especially now that he had no right to feel jealous of anyone that approached Jisung.

Jisung nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t feel like going back yet.”

This was his chance, Minho realized. He looked at Jisung as he dried his body as best he can with his towel. “Can we talk, Jisung?”

Minho wondered if Jisung remembered their promise. He wondered if Jisung could still remember how they laughed at their laced pinkies and how their shoulders shook as they laughed and how they sealed that promise with a kiss that ended with more giggles. He wondered if he was the only one that didn’t want to break it.

“Yeah.” Jisung agreed easily with a nod of his head. “Of course.”

“I just...” Minho started. He looked anywhere but at Jisung, busying himself with the task of drying off. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk these past weeks, fighting with you every chance I get.”

Minho knows his mistakes. Breaking up with Jisung was one of them— the biggest one, even— but being stubborn and bitter and fighting with Jisung every chance he gets was something Jisung didn’t deserve. Minho always said that Jisung deserved all of the love in the world, and he wasn’t going to take that statement back because they weren’t together anymore.

“I start some of them.” Jisung intoned. He wasn’t going to let Minho take the blame for all their arguments since their break-up. He knew he caused half of them, if only to start one before Minho did, or maybe to prove that he was doing _something_ to move on. “I’m sorry, too. It’s stupid, fighting with you over nothing.”

Minho chuckled under his breath. “Yeah.”

“Friends?” Jisung asked. There was a pang in his heart as he said the word but he ignored it in honour of giving Minho a small smile.

“Friends.” Minho nodded and offered Jisung a hand.

Jisung takes it, his fingers wrapping around Minho’s wrist as he pulls himself up to his feet. Close proximities were the least foreign thing to them and Jisung wanted to smile at the familiarity of Minho’s skin on his. He looks at Minho and sees the same flash of recognition pass through his expression, telling Jisung that he still felt the same.

He smiles at Minho before letting go. “Can I ask you something, then?”

“Okay.” Minho nodded as he started to towel dry his hair.

“That guy Changbin said you met at the coffee shop...” Jisung started. He looked away from Minho, suddenly embarrassed. Of course, Jisung was going to eat his words and be the reason that Minho’s potential new boyfriend will be brought up in his presence for the third time today. “do you like him?”

Maybe this was what their friends wanted to happen. They wanted him to ask Minho about his new potential boyfriend, in hopes of some kind of closure or reassurance.

Jisung can’t get it out of his head. Minho with someone else. He understood how Minho felt weeks ago, when he claimed that it was so easy for Jisung to find someone else and go on a date with them not even an hour after they’ve broken up. He understood the irrational conclusion that it was far too simple and far too quick for him to throw what they had to the side the moment there was someone new. He understood the hurt that came with the irrational conclusions because at the back of his mind, Jisung knew that it wasn’t the case for either of them, but seeing it play out still hurt.

He wondered if Minho’s thoughts were as heartbreaking as Jisung’s. Jisung wondered if Minho still had those thoughts. He wondered how long he’d be having those thoughts until he’d be completely fine with the idea of Minho being someone else’s.

“Seobin?” Minho tilted his head to the side. “He’s okay.”

“Oh.” Jisung intoned. “Okay.”

He doesn’t know what that means. He doesn’t know if it means Minho can see himself with Seobin, doesn’t know if Minho doesn’t think he’d get to that point with him. He doesn’t know how Minho is when he’s developing feelings for someone that isn’t Jisung.

“Why? Does he bother you?” Minho asked. He asked as if it was even a question, as if two weeks was enough to unlove him, especially when during those two weeks, they’ve been together for better parts of the afternoon. He asked as if he himself wasn’t bothered by the girls and boys that approached Jisung today.

It didn’t bother him. What bothered Minho was the fact that he had no say in that anymore. It bothered Minho that he had no right to be bothered by it anymore. It bothered Minho that those girls and boys had every right to check Jisung out and approach him and ask him if he was available because Jisung _was_ available.

“If I say it does, will it change anything?” Jisung asked, voice low that it was almost lost in the wind; but just as Jisung had every bit of Minho amplified, Minho had Jisung.

Jisung wanted to know if two weeks was enough for Minho to clean him out of his system. Jisung wanted to know how much of his effect on Minho was gone now that they weren’t together anymore. He wanted to know how much of Minho’s effect on him was gone now that they weren’t together anymore.

But yes, it will change something. Minho was asking because he wanted to put Jisung first now. If Jisung said he didn’t like Minho hanging out with someone else, then Minho would cut ties with that person, no questions asked.

“Will it change anything if I told you that it bothered me seeing you talking with all those people today?” Minho asked in exchange, not meeting Jisung’s eyes.

Jisung doesn’t know what, but something in him snaps. How could Minho ask him that? How could Minho be jealous of _all those people_ that Jisung clearly wasn’t interested in when he was the one that called it quits? How could Minho tell him this like Jisung wasn’t vaguely aware of the frown that tugged the corners of Minho’s lips whenever another person would make their way to him?

This was possibly his answer. Minho still had as much of an effect on him as ever, able to draw out emotions and reactions from him that Jisung doesn’t understand, for better or worse.

“Are you really asking me that right now?” Jisung almost laughed. It was exactly like Minho to answer a question with another question, to shift the topic from himself to Jisung. Just before, it used to be from what Minho wanted to what Jisung wanted, not who Minho was seeing to who flirted with Jisung. It was exactly like Minho to have the same answer as Jisung.

Minho looked at him in that way Jisung knew he wanted to take it back but he was going to be stubborn and go through with it. Minho let out a breath. “Yeah, I am.”

“Why?” Jisung stopped himself from raising his voice. He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand how Minho could say ‘let’s break up’ and then ‘I’m jealous’ within twelve days. “Did you break up with me just so you could play the jealous ex-boyfriend?”

And now they’re fighting again.

“Do you think it’s easy for me to see you with all those people?” Minho asked, brows furrowed in irritation and confusion. “You think it’s easy to see you flirting with strangers?”

“Do you even hear yourself right now?” Jisung asked exasperatedly. “You’re totally pulling the jealous ex-boyfriend act on me!”

“Why wouldn’t I be a jealous ex-boyfriend when that’s exactly what I am?!” Minho vexed without a second thought.

Jisung still had that effect on Minho, too. It was still there, as whole and solid and real as ever. Jisung was still able to make black white and up down for Minho.

“Hey, _you_ broke up with me.” Jisung said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, because I was mad at you, not because I _stopped loving you_.” Minho’s voice almost cracked by the end of his sentence and he and Jisung feel as if a bucket of ice water was dumped over their heads. It’s quiet now, the two college students staring each other down, daring each other to speak first.

The reality settled in; that they were still hopelessly and wholeheartedly in love with each other. They were broken up but they were still deeply in love with each other. That wasn’t changing soon, and it most certainly was not going to go away.

“You still love me.” Jisung finally spoke. He doesn’t know why a part of him expected Minho not to anymore. It was the masochistic part of him that told him that if Minho didn’t love him anymore, then it would be easier to move on from him.

Minho gripped at his hair through the towel before groaning and letting the towel lay limp on his shoulders. “Of course, I do.”

“Did you really expect me not to?” he asked when Jisung didn’t answer.

“I didn’t expect you to admit it.” Jisung pressed his lips into a thin line. He forced himself to look at Minho, showing Minho that he was confused. “What? Do you want to get back together, or...? What does telling me you still love me do?”

Minho is silent. He licks his lips, takes in a deep breath, and exhales a sigh; tired and pained and sad. “No, Jisung. I’m not getting back together with you. What you did still hurts. It’s just... did you really think I could ever stop loving you?”

Seeing Jisung still hurts. He still thinks of Jisung with Lia, still remembers how easy it was for Jisung to forget about their first break-up and go on a date with someone else. Being with Jisung still made him remember that Jisung tried to keep it from him, how Jisung ran around everywhere and pleaded with who he should just so his date with Lia wouldn’t reach him.

“Then stop acting like a dick every time we’re in the same room.” Jisung knows that they’ve gone back to square one. They’ve already apologized for the post break-up bickering and agreed to go back to being friends but he didn’t know what else to say. He’d admit that all the meaningless bickering acted as the fuel for the masochistic part of Jisung’s mind and he was more than willing to get rid of that part of his thoughts.

Minho’s shoulders drop, and he sighs again, this time relenting. He nods, accepting of Jisung’s argument. “Okay.”

Jisung blinks. “Okay?”

Jisung almost doesn’t believe his ears. Minho was as stubborn as he was. He couldn’t believe that Minho was simply going with ‘okay’ instead of one of the dozen more sarcastic and more Minho remarks that Jisung had thought up from the top his head. Jisung has half a mind to start getting angry only because ‘okay’ was the exact way Minho had described Seobin earlier and Jisung still does not know what that was supposed to mean.

“Okay.” Minho repeats and nods again. “I’ll stop picking fights with you for no reason. And I’ll stop talking to Seobin.”

“I never told you to do that.” Jisung intoned. The name almost doesn’t register in his mind.

Minho gives him a lopsided smile. “I know, but it bothers you. And we’re friends. I’m not going to date someone my friends don’t like. Especially if it’s you who doesn’t approve.”

He didn’t say anything wrong, didn’t say anything that didn’t apply to Chan or Hyunjin or Jeongin or anyone else, but there was that look in his eyes that told Jisung more than he said.

_You’re still the most important person to me, so what you say still goes._

It’s quiet again, and Minho and Jisung remember that they’re at the beach and the waves are crashing against the shore in a steady rhythm. The night air is suddenly cold but not too overbearing and the stars are a mix of too bright and too dim with the moon out of reach and a reminder of all the ‘I love you to the moon and back’s that they could remember. The air is salty and makes them feel like they’ve inhaled grains of sand through their noses and they wonder what time it is for them to be the only two people left outside.

“I’ll get going.” Minho is the one to break the silence this time. “It’s getting late, Jisung, you should head to bed, too.”

Jisung nods and watches Minho walk away. His eyes follow Minho until the older is out of sight and back inside the hotel. Jisung’s eyes trail over the footsteps Minho left in the sand until the path comes back to where he was standing.

Jisung is alone now, under the night sky with stars too bright and too dim with the wind around him making him feel like he’s breathing in tiny grains of sand. He heaves a deep sigh and counts to ten before he turns and makes his way to the hotel.

Early the next morning, Jisung finds Minho in the suite’s kitchen, preparing a cup of coffee with the over-the-top coffee maker that was provided by the resort.

“Good morning.” Minho greeted as Jisung sat himself on one of the seats near the island. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please.” Jisung yawned.

“There was something I forgot to talk to you about last night.” Minho started. He gave Jisung the cup of coffee that was supposedly his before walking back to the coffee machine to pop in another pod inside the coffee machine.

Jisung blew on the hot drink, distracted. “What is it?”

“Our friends.” Minho said, voice low in that way Jisung knew meant he was feeling guilty and annoyed. “They’re being unfair to you.”

It irritates Minho how his friends wouldn’t seem to understand him when he tells them to stop talking about him to Jisung. He gets irritated when he asks their friends to stop throwing remark after remark about Jisung and Lia, Minho and Seobin, or Jisung and Minho into conversation because he knows how it hurts Jisung, but their friends wouldn’t seem to listen. It’s like the more he asks them to stop, the more they want to do it.

“I know.” Jisung answered. He looked up and watched Minho wait for the machine to fill the coffee cup. “I know that they keep making comments on purpose, acting like us breaking up isn’t a big deal, things like that. I know.”

“It’s okay.” Jisung answered honestly. “I know what they’re trying to do, and I know that they do it to you, too.”

“You don’t deserve those comments, whether or not their intentions are good. _I_ broke up with you, they have no right to rub salt to your wounds.”

“Minho,” Jisung chuckled. He waited until Minho had his first sip of coffee before he continued. “they’re our friends, I can see right through them. Yeah, they’re being lowkey assholes, but I know that they’re trying to gauge my reactions, trying to see if I’m hurting without asking me directly.”

Jisung sees the look in Minho’s face and he rolls his eyes at the older. “Don’t talk to them about it. It’s how we as friends work. And, besides, you’re the only one I can manage to talk to without saying one thing and meaning the other, if I let the others walk up to me and straight up ask ‘how are you holding up?’ instead of ‘Minho went on a date today’, I don’t think I’ll be able to take it.”

Minho sidled the island, his coffee on the marble surface, and he stopped in front of Jisung. He pulled the seated boy into the gentle embrace and Jisung wrapped his arms around Minho’s torso in return.

Jisung smelled of fresh sheets and saltwater, with a slight tincture of the lavender he used on his clothes. Minho didn’t realize how much he missed Jisung’s subtle scent of lavender until now.

“I’ll still talk to them about it.” Minho said. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

“I can’t stop you from doing that.” Jisung answered and let go of the hug. “And we should wake them up in a few minutes so that we can get the most out of the breakfast buffet.”

Minho nodded and sat down next to Jisung, reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip. They both missed mornings like this.


	8. Chapter 8

“Hey, Minho, you okay?” Jeongin asked the older. He just exited his apartment to go pester Changbin and saw Minho and Felix making their way down the hall. Minho, however, was limping. It wasn’t obvious but Jeongin knows Minho enough to know that the older boy jumped every other step unless he was in a bad mood or physically unable to.

At the question, Felix winced. “We, uhh, had an accident last night.”

“It’s fine, Felix, really.” Minho laughed then turned to Jeongin. “There was a sudden noise from next door late last night and it was too dark in the apartment to see anything, so when both Felix and I startled and went to check what the fuss was, we collided and crashed to the floor.”

They probably should not have been as startled as they were last night, but in both of their sleepy states, what was most likely a chair falling over sounded like a bomb going off.

The pain in his ankle wasn’t unbearable. It might be a little uncomfortable to walk on but it was manageable, nothing too alarming or concerning. It was sure to heal in another day or two and Minho will be back to jumping around like usual.

“He twisted his ankle during the fall and it still hasn’t healed.” Felix said as the three of them entered the apartment. Jisung and Changbin were on the sofa watching an afternoon talk show. Chan was with Hyunjin and Seungmin and won’t be back until early in the evening.

“Hey.” Jisung greeted absent-mindedly, not sparing them a glance.

“You good there, Min?” Changbin asked as he noticed the way Minho walked to the dining table to take a seat. That caught Jisung’s attention and he quickly pried his attention from the television to Minho, who was already seated.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Jisung asked. After coming back from the beach, Minho and Jisung have been relatively civil with each other, much to everyone else’s joy. They don’t think they can handle any more spontaneous bickering between the exes.

Jisung and Minho didn’t bring up their talk from that night. There was nothing to bring up. Minho kept his word and didn’t talk to Seobin again, and the two of them unspokenly agreed to keep their promise from before that they’d remain friends despite the break-up.

Minho still wanted to talk to their friends about taking it easy on Jisung, but he knew that if the younger caught wind of it, he’d throw a fit at Minho, insisting that he could handle meaningless barbs and that he knew what their friends were meaning to ask when they speak to him like that. Minho could handle Jisung’s fits, but he didn’t want to have one thrown his way when they’ve only just made up.

“Felix and Minho ran into each other last night.” Jeongin explained as he plopped between Jisung and Changbin. “His ankle might be swollen.”

“Did you ice it?” Jisung asked.

“A few minutes last night then I fell asleep. No big deal.” The older shrugged then changed the subject. “Do any of you have plans for tonight? I feel like we can pig out on pizza and rent out crappy movies to watch.”

“Changbin and I are meeting with some classmates, though.” Felix said with a small sigh. “We’re leaving in an hour or so.”

“Me, too.” Jisung said. “I have friends from Malaysia I’m meeting up with for dinner.”

Minho smiled when he heard about Jisung’s plans. It’s been a while since Jisung met up with his friends from Malaysia, so he was happy that the younger now had a chance to catch up with them after months of not seeing them.

“I’m free.” Jeongin beamed. “Pizza and crappy movies sound good.”

“Wait, we’re leaving in an hour?” Changbin asked. He was under the impression that he had at least two hours more until he had to get up from the sofa.

Felix rolled his eyes and nodded. “Don’t tell me you forgot.”

“I’m going to shower.” Changbin announced as he stood up and disappeared into his room to get a change of clothes.

The rest of the afternoon passed by in almost dull silence, with Jisung and Jeongin hogging the television and Minho staying in his seat by the dining table, Changbin’s laptop in front of him so that he could entertain himself with the endless material that the internet had to offer.

“Minho, are you sure you can handle yourself?” Jisung asked hours later. Changbin and Felix were long gone and Jeongin left when Hyunjin called him to ask for help with whatever it is that he and Seungmin decided to buy, probably despite Chan’s attempts to dissuade them from the idea. From what Jisung and Minho heard from the phone call, it was new furniture for their apartment.

Jisung had just finished getting ready to go out for the night but seeing Minho on the kitchen island made him think twice about leaving the boy alone in the apartment. Chan would be back after dealing with the other three but even that didn’t put Jisung’s mind fully at ease.

Minho chuckled as he hopped off his seat on the dining table. “Yes, Ji. It’s only a sprained ankle.”

His ankle was feeling better compared to last night when he first sprained it. It was going to be healed tomorrow or the day after as long as he didn’t put too much pressure on his foot.

Minho is a dancer, he knows how to handle a sprained ankle.

And as if to prove him wrong, Minho falters on his way to the sofa. He would have fallen to the floor if Jisung hadn’t steadied him and Minho sighed in relief when he felt the younger’s hands on his arms. “Thank you.”

Jisung helps Minho sit down. “Okay, you’re not going to be left alone like this. I’ll call my friends for a rain check and then I’ll get you an ice pack for your ankle.”

“Ji, no.” Minho rejected gently. “You haven’t seen your friends in months. Jeongin and the others will be back soon and this really isn’t a big deal.”

“Min.” Jisung said. Minho knew not to argue with that tone but Minho was still stubborn.

“I’m fine, really.” Minho said.

Jisung narrowed his eyes at Minho before he disappeared into his room. Minho sags into the sofa, thinking that Jisung decided to let Minho have his way and not cancel on his friends, but minutes later Jisung is out of his room again, the coat he was wearing earlier gone, and went to the fridge.

“Jisung.” Minho lightly scolded, bordering on a whine. “Don’t cancel plans for me.”

“You need someone with you tonight. And who knows what Chan and the others are up to right now. For all we know, Hyunjin and Seungmin decided to buy a couch and can’t get it up the stairs or something. They could be gone for hours.” Jisung calmly explained as he fixed up an ice pack to wrap around Minho’s ankle. “And it’s not like I’ll never see my friends again. They’ll be here until next week, I can have breakfast with them tomorrow, no big deal.”

Jisung didn’t mind staying home to take care of Minho. He’d do it for any of the others, but especially because it was Minho that needed someone with him tonight. He won’t be able to sit still anyway, if Jisung went out. He’d be too busy worrying about Minho to fully enjoy himself tonight.

Minho doesn’t argue anymore. He’d never be able to keep up an argument with Jisung when it came to his own wellbeing. Minho knew that Jisung took more care of Minho than Minho did to himself, and Minho took care of Jisung just as attentively.

But still, Minho tried again when Jisung knelt down in front of him and took his injured ankle to prop it up on his knee. “Jisung, you really don’t have to.”

“I want to.” Jisung answered as he removed Minho’s shoe and sock carefully so as not to hurt the older.

“You’re not obliged to do these things anymore.” Minho could understand if this was pre-break-up, because Jisung would argue that he was being a good boyfriend and Minho can never deny that because Jisung was the best boyfriend he could ever ask for. But now, they weren’t boyfriends and Jisung had nothing to argue with if Minho insisted enough.

It wasn’t Jisung’s job to take care of Minho anymore. He wasn’t going to be paid in hugs and kisses after. Minho didn’t want to keep Jisung away from his other friends, he knew how much he liked meeting up with them.

“I want to.” Jisung repeated. Minho flinched when the wrapped ice made contact with his ankle and Jisung looked up at him in slight concern. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” Minho answered truthfully. “just cold, that’s all.”

Minho is a dancer, of course Jisung knows how to handle his sprained ankles.

He’s done it a handful of times, both before they were dating and during, and he wasn’t going to stop because they were back to being friends.

Jisung simpered and turned back to Minho’s ankle. It was a little swollen but it would be good as new tomorrow if it was kept iced and Minho didn’t somehow injure himself even more. “Let’s keep it like this for an hour or two. Think you can keep still whilst we wait for the pizza?”

After calling his friends to apologize and call in a rain check because an emergency popped up, Jisung called a pizza parlor and ordered a pizza for the both of them. He could plug his laptop into the television and play movies from there instead of going to a rental place and leave Minho behind.

“You ordered pizza?” Minho asked.

Jisung hummed and then smiled up at Minho. “Pizza and crappy movies sound good.”

Minho laughed with a nod, eyes crinkling in that way that makes Jisung feel lighter unconditionally. “Yeah, it does.”

* * *

In two days, Minho was back to bouncing off walls and his sprained ankle was long forgotten. He’s been too energetic as well, with Felix half-threatening to barrel into Minho again just so that the older would stay put for at least an hour. Chan and Seungmin insisted that Minho’s surplus of energy was brought about by the milkshakes and cupcakes that the three of them have pigged out on the night before, since even the two of them were a little jittery compared to normal, the sugar high simply hadn’t worn off quite yet.

The group went out for dinner tonight and parted ways after; Jeongin and Chan went back home to sleep early whilst Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix, and Seungmin went to a nearby cafe for after-dinner coffee.

Jisung and Minho ended up walking around the sidewalk with no destination in mind. It wasn’t premeditated, old habits simply died hard. It seemed like even their friends were too used to Jisung and Minho branching off after group dinners because none of them batted an eye when they refused the invitations to either go back home or get coffee.

The others wouldn’t admit it but the past days made it difficult to remember that their friends were broken up. They were almost back to normal, pre-anniversary. There was banter, light bickering, but nothing friends didn’t do. The only reminder of Jisung and Minho not being together anymore was that the two have boundaries now, not initiating skinship anymore or practically singing accolades for the other.

But other than that, Minho and Jisung were okay now. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they got back together soon. It was expected, really, especially when it’s clear that Minho has already let go of the issue with Lia.

He wasn’t mad anymore.

“Classes start back up in less than a week.” Minho said as they walked. Their shoulders brushed each other every several steps and it was comforting for both of them.

Classes started in three days, to be exact. Minho was kind of surprised with how much he’s been out and about during the break. He could have sworn that once break started, he’d hole himself in his room and stay in the apartment unless he was dragged out by Felix or anyone else. It was what he thought he’d end up doing when he and Jisung first broke up.

Minho will admit that the only saving grace he has ever since he and Jisung broke up is the fact that he still sees Jisung every day. He’s sure that if it was otherwise, he’d be wallowing in bed for months in his own heartbreak.

“Yeah,” Jisung sighed. “the break feels longer than three weeks, though.”

“A lot happened.” Minho shrugged. “We broke up, got back together, broke up again. Fought for a week and a half and then now we’re okay.”

“Yeah.” Jisung repeated. “I feel like the break’s been going on for three months.”

“Right?” Minho breathed out a laugh as he glanced at the boy next to him. “It feels like we broke up so long ago, but at the same time it hasn’t really sinked in yet.”

“You, too, huh?” Jisung asked.

Minho hummed in reply.

They walked in silence for several moments. It used to be comforting but now there was something heavy in the air with every step they took. It was synchronized, no need to ask if they were going to cross the street or turn the corner, they just knew that they were going the same way without thinking about it.

“Jisung?” Minho finally asked as they crossed the street. They both stifled a nostalgic smile as a memory came to them. It was natural now, to randomly think of that sunny afternoon when they crossed a street together. It didn’t happen a lot, but it happened often, like now.

“Yeah?”

Minho hesitates. He regrets wanting to bring it up but he couldn’t think of anything else to ask Jisung in place of the question he originally had in mind. He takes a deep breath and musters up as much courage as he can in half a second.

“Would you hate me if I said I wish we never broke up?” he asked. It was so soft that Jisung almost didn’t hear the question because of the background noise of the city around them.

Maybe he heard it because he’s been waiting for a question like that to come soon enough.

He smiled, a little sad. “No. I could never hate you, Min.”

They glanced at each other and look away quickly. Their minds were reeling at the moment and they had to look where they were going unless they want to bump into other people.

“You know it’s the same for me, too, right? I can never hate you. I can never unlove you, either.” there was something in Minho’s voice that Jisung used to hear every day. It’s been almost three weeks without that tone and now that he’s heard it again he feels tears bubbling behind his eyes.

It was the tone Minho used when he told Jisung he loved him. It was the same one Minho used at the beach, when he told Jisung that he was mad at him but didn’t stop loving him.

“Is that a bad thing?” Jisung asked after a beat of silence.

“You won’t ever be a bad thing, Jisung.” Minho sighed. If Jisung glanced at him, he’d see the layer of tears that glossed over his eyes. Breaking up with Jisung hurt more than finding out about him going out with Lia.

Every single day after they broke up just proved to Minho that they were too good to stay broken up. They were for each other, nothing was going to change that. Minho didn’t need convincing but he needed a reminder of it. It wasn’t like he was convinced that he and Jisung were going to stay broken up for long, either.

“You want to go in?” Jisung asked when he saw where Minho was looking. Across the street was the animal shelter that they’ve visited once or twice. It was the same one Lia accompanied him to so that he could tell the workers that his plans with Minho were cancelled.

Minho tore his eyes away from the animal shelter and gave Jisung a small smile. “Can we?”

“Why not?” Jisung shrugged and took Minho’s hand to guide him across the street. He smiled at Minho. “And I know that look in your eye. You want to cuddle a kitty.”

“You know me so well.” Minho laughed whilst he opened the door and waited for Jisung to pass through first before entering the animal shelter.

“Aww, hello, little one.” Minho cooed as he picked up a wandering cat. Jisung smiled at Minho before he looked around the animal shelter. The girl from before walked out from the storage room and smiled brightly when she saw the duo.

“Minho, Jisung!” she greeted the two. “It’s good to see you both!”

“Hey,” Minho smiled at her as he moved to sit on the floor when another cat pawed at his shin. “it’s good to see you, too.”

“Are you two finally adopting after all?” she asked and Jisung froze at the question.

Minho didn’t know about that.

Nonplussed, Minho’s brows curled as he looked up at Jisung, who was standing still next to him. “After all?”

“It’s...” Jisung didn’t know what to say, so instead he turned to her and smiled apologetically. “We’re not. We just passed by and decided to go in.”

Minho gives Jisung a look that the latter understood immediately. Jisung nods in response, already figuring out what to tell Minho. The truth, obviously; because the last time he tried to blur anything out, they broke-up.

“Aww,” she looked dejected but content to see that the two were together. “well, hang out for as long as you’d like, I have to bathe the puppies, though, so watch the shop whilst you’re at it.”

“We got it.” Jisung said as the girl disappeared back into the storage room where they also bathed the pets, two puppies in her arms and another one following behind her.

“So, what did she mean by that?” Minho asked when Jisung sat next to him. There was a dog on Jisung’s lap now and by the softness of her fur, she was already bathed.

Jisung looked at Minho, one cat on his lap and another in his arms. He admired the older, he looked happy being surrounded by animals right now and Jisung felt his heart sing at the sight. He sighed. “On our anniversary, I planned to take you here after dinner.”

Minho’s eyes softened at the mention of their anniversary. He’s made a lot of stupid decisions that day, ones that he wished he could take back and save all of them the emotional turmoil. He didn’t speak, though, and waited for Jisung to explain. “And, well... maybe then we could pick out a cat to take home.”

Minho gasped softly. He opened his mouth to talk but Jisung looked away and continue. “And I know the only reason we still haven’t gotten pets is because it’ll be hard because we live in different apartments so I thought, you know...”

Minho was looking down at the two cats on his lap now, carefully stroking their fur as he listened to Jisung. His heart hurt hearing that. He and Jisung have been talking about moving together for months now but finding out that it was so close yet so far of a reality made Minho gulp.

They talked about converting Felix’s bedroom into a work room of sorts, so that Minho’s room could fit a bigger bed and still have room to move now that his study table would be out of the way. They even considered pets, which Minho and Felix’s building allowed as long as they weren’t disruptive. Felix joined in once or twice, saying that he’d be happy to switch apartments with Jisung any day as long as he’d be given a month’s notice to pack up.

“Jisung...”

Living with Jisung. It was a dream come true, one that Minho didn’t realized slipped out from his fingers until now.

“Minho,” Jisung interrupted. “don’t say anything. I know why you did what you did and I know I was wrong about what _I_ did.”

Minho didn’t like talking about it. He didn’t like hearing Jisung talk about it like it was only his fault. Minho overreacted; he was hurt and he was tired and Jisung was the only person Minho could take out all of his frustrations on.

Minho used to think of Jisung as someone that could never hurt him; and he was, he still is, despite everything that happened weeks ago. But Minho wasn’t going to lie and say that it was all Jisung’s fault, he wasn’t going to play the victim and insist that he was the only one that got hurt and that Jisung didn’t get his heart broken as well.

Minho knew he was being petty and immature and in the process, he hurt Jisung. It was something that he’ll beat himself up for for a long time.

Jisung deserved better than him, he was starting to see that, but Minho knew that if Jisung still wanted him, he wasn’t going to let him go ever again. He was going to work on himself a lot, to be the ‘better’ that Jisung deserved.

“Jisung.” Minho said. A furred paw patted his wrist, asking for attention he automatically gave the small animals on his lap.

Jisung smiled at him, a little sadly but mostly hopeful. “You know we’re too good to stay broken up, right?”

Minho chuckled and nodded. “You read my mind.”

No one truly believed that Minho and Jisung would stay broken up for long. Hyunjin was right; they were Minho and Jisung, they were going to get through this. Maybe not scotch-free, but at least they were going to get out of it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter is next!! But before we get to that, I just want to thank you all again for reading, this is one of the stories that I enjoyed and the feedback its receiving just makes me happier to have written and published this *^^* I love reading your comments, it's like going back to my thoughts and frustrations whilst writing this hehe so please leave more!!
> 
> Thank you so so much for getting this far with me, I hope every one of you stays safe and healthy and happy !!! Thank yoouu <33


	9. Chapter 9

When Minho and Jisung were in high school they only knew Seungmin, Felix, and Changbin. Then they met Chan, Jeongin, and Hyunjin. They met through Changbin, then later realized that they were also friends with Seungmin and Felix. This resulted in a few encounters across the hall and between classes, until it turned into being in the same table during lunch every other day or walking to the bus stop together once every week since they both went home late that day.

It was almost four years of awkward acquaintanceship through mutual friends that turned into mutual feelings between close friends. When exactly, neither can pinpoint specifically, but it was their fourth and final year of high school when they finally got together.

Jisung asked Minho out. With the help of their other friends, Jisung mustered up enough courage to lay his heart out on a silver platter for Minho to either take or step on. Not exactly, he was pretty sure that Minho had feelings for him as well, if the way Minho’s eyes lit up whenever he looked at Jisung was anything to go by; but Jisung remembered thinking that maybe it was a trick of the light, or his heart, or his mind, or his eyes, that Minho seemed to smile bigger when Jisung was there.

It was nerve-wracking, and Jisung will never forget that feeling.

He blamed it on Felix. His outrageous ideas got in the way of Jisung’s initial ‘I like you, will you go out with me?’ confession, and Seungmin’s persuasion got Jisung to scrap that simple idea and go with what Felix thought up. Changbin didn’t mind how Jisung did it; he just wanted the mutual pining over because he was as tired as everyone else to take any more of Minho’s and Jisung’s dancing around each other— this meant Jisung’s confession had a set time limit.

Seungmin, Felix, and Changbin were Jisung’s ‘make Minho my boyfriend’ team, so Minho only saw it fit that they be his ‘ask Jisung to take me back’ team.

“Okay, we’re here, what’s the sitch?” Seungmin yawned as he and Changbin walked inside Minho and Felix’s apartment early the next day. Minho had texted them the night before that he needed their help and that none of the others should know about it, which meant they had to meet before the afternoon, which was usually when they got together.

Felix, already filled in with Minho’s intentions, was beaming from where he was seated next to Minho on the sofa. He stood up and ushered the new-comers to the living area, whipping out two more mugs from the cupboard. “You two sit! I’ll get you your coffee.”

“Okay, now I’m scared.” Seungmin said as he sat on the floor next to the coffee table. Minho and Felix’s apartment was smaller, fit for two people, which meant that they didn’t have a one-seater next to the long sofa like the other two apartments did.

“Is there something going on?” Changbin asked from the other side of the coffee table. He had Felix’s half-full mug of coffee in hand, already taking sips of it.

“I need your help.” Minho started, eyes bright and clear and Seungmin and Changbin realize that it’s been weeks since they’ve seen Minho look like that. He smiled. “I want to ask Jisung to be my boyfriend again.”

He really did. At the back of his mind, he knew that they’d get back together sooner or later— he _knows_ that Jisung is the only one for him, there was no denying that. Last night simply proved to him that he had no more reason to dwell on whatever happened with Jisung and Lia. He wasn’t mad anymore, not when he can look at Jisung and see _his_ Jisung, and fall in love over and over and over again without fail.

Three weeks broken up has proved that they _can_ live without each other. It proved that Minho and Jisung could survive without each other as the centre of their worlds. It was a numb type of pain, as the days passed, and the feeling of something being amiss never left, but it was possible. But that didn’t mean Minho wanted to spend another day to not be able to fall in love with Han Jisung over and over and over and show him that he was the only one that Minho wanted to love for the rest of his life, especially not when it was Minho’s own pettiness and pride that got in the way of both of their happiness.

He’s half-surprised with himself for surviving semestrial break as Jisung’s ex. But seeing Jisung every day truly was Minho’s saving grace from falling into the dark pits of heartbreak and locking himself up in his room until classes started back up again.

Changbin almost spits the coffee out, but quickly (luckily) regains his composure and swallows the warm drink before exclaiming, “That’s great news!”

“What can we do to help?” Seungmin wanted to know as Felix rejoined them, two new mugs of coffee with him— he gave one to Seungmin and kept the other for himself since Changbin stole his coffee.

“I have just the thing!” Felix beamed as he sat back down next to Minho. He was practically jumping in excitement at whatever it is that he had come up with.

Minho feels his heart drop to his stomache.

* * *

The afternoon found everyone in Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin’s apartment. That is, until Hyunjin and Chan went out to buy pizzas and Jeongin and Seungmin stepped out to get drinks for everyone in the convenience store across the street. Felix and Changbin were in the other apartment, looking for movies to play whilst they ate their early dinner.

Jisung noticed that Minho has been quiet the whole afternoon. He knows that Minho sometimes liked to stay silent in exchange for his normally outgoing personality, but Jisung could feel that the older was thinking about something.

It rubbed Jisung the wrong way, to say the least, that he had no idea of what might be on Minho’s mind, when he used to have even a small clue of what he might be thinking. He wanted to know what Minho was thinking about, and why the older looked like his insides were doing flips faster than Minho’s mind can race.

Jisung pushed Minho’s shoulder with his finger, breaking the spaced-off boy from his train of thought. Jisung chuckled when Minho looked at him with surprised confusion and sat next to him.

“You okay?” he asked. “You seem out of it today?”

Minho blinked at Jisung before snapping out of it. He nodded, chuckling nervously. “Yeah.”

Jisung’s brows curled in the middle, forming a crease that Minho almost smoothed out with his thumb. “Are you sure? You sound troubled.”

“It’s nothing.” Minho answered with a genuine smile. “Felix was just talking nonsense this morning.”

He wasn’t lying. Minho wondered how Jisung decided to go along with whatever Felix had come up with a year ago. He wondered how many of Felix’s ridiculous ideas Jisung rejected when he asked for help on how to ask Minho out.

In Minho’s case, there was only _one_ idea. Felix didn’t need to suggest any more, because Seungmin and Changbin were quick to vote on it. Minho didn’t want to admit that it was a great idea, simply because of principle. But he _had_ to admit, that if he was going to do this, he’d do it exactly like how Felix suggested he do it. It simply felt right to.

Jisung’s nose crinkled at that and he laughed. “Yeah, I can see why you’re out of it, then.”

Jisung wanted to ask more, Minho can see that. Minho was stopping himself from telling him any more, Jisung can see that.

Jisung didn’t need to know _exactly_ what Minho was thinking of, he never did, not when he can wrap his arms around Minho and tuck his face under his chin and tell him that whatever it is that was stressing him out was going to pass.

Minho did it to him when _he_ was spaced out, and it helped lots and lot that Jisung picked up the habit of doing the same to Minho.

Before Jisung can make a move to hug Minho, however, the door opens. Changbin and Felix return to the apartment with movies in Changbin’s hands. “We have entertainment!”

“Oh,” Felix tilted his head at the exes seated next to each other. “this is entertainment enough, though.”

Kneeling on the sofa so that he could turn toward the entrance of the apartment, Minho scowled at Felix and threw a sofa cushion at his housemate. Felix was quick to dodge it, sacrificing Changbin’s shoulder.

“Hey!” Changbin whined when the sofa cushion hit the floor with a dull thud.

Felix laughed and tossed the pillow back to Minho. “We’re just teasing.”

“Don’t drag me in with you, Felix.” Changbin defended himself. “I’m an innocent by-stander.”

Jisung scoffed and took the sofa cushion from Minho and throwing it Changbin’s way. Changbin dodges, the pillow hitting Felix’s stomache instead. Felix looks at Jisung with an open jaw. “Excuse me, Han?”

Jisung sticks his tongue out and faces back toward the television. “Whatever.”

Minho looks down at Jisung with a fond expression that’s quickly wiped away when Felix throws the cushion back to him and hits him square in the face.

Jisung bursts out laughing, almost falling off the sofa if not for Minho grabbing his arm. Minho scoffed at the laughing boy as he tossed the cushion on Jisung’s lap. “You’re a sadist.”

“You would know.” Jisung winked with a small smirk.

Changbin gagged instantly. “No! We are _not_ hearing about this. No!”

“I don’t think that’s something exes are supposed to be open about.” Felix intoned with a grimace.

Jisung gasped and glared at the two. “Heathens, both of you!”

Minho rolled his eyes at Jisung, a smile tugging at his lips. Felix’s crazy ideas was worth it if he and Jisung could go back to the way they were a month ago— the way they were always supposed to be.

* * *

 _Oh, God, how did Jisung do this?_ Minho thought to himself as he waited in the busy boardwalk, fidgeting in place.

His heart was bouncing off every corner of his insides, threatening to ride up his throat and out of his moouth in the most unflattering way possible. He feels people looking at him as they passed, but _nothing has happened yet_ so what more when Jisung got here and Minho made a scene in the middle of an unsuspecting boardwalk?

He sighed, almost dreamily, tilting his head to the sky as he thought of Jisung. _Jesus, he’s amazing._

As expected, Felix supplied an off-the-walls bonkers idea (“It’s the only logical way to ask him to take you back!”) that Minho would never have agreed to if not for Seungmin’s exceptional persuasion skills (“He has a point, Minho. It would almost be _offensive_ not to do it like this.”) and Changbin setting a time limit (“You two already endured three weeks— almost four— broken up. Isn’t that long enough?”) because he refused to let Minho and Jisung waste any more time broken up when they should never have in the first place.

Minho has been stressing about it since they’ve set the plan yesterday. It’s now a day after and Minho still isn’t sure he can muster up enough courage to push through with it; but here he is, standing alone on the sidewalk, one hand holding a megaphone and his other hand clutching his chest in hopes that it would calm his down his agitated heart.

Seungmin, Felix, and Changbin were with Jisung, three streets away from where Minho was waiting. They each held their own iced-coffees as they walked along the sidewalk. It was early afternoon but they had plans to meet with everyone else for a late lunch.

The others were aware of what was happening today but decided that a perfect attendance would ring alarms in Jisung’s head, no matter how thick-headed the boy can be if he wanted to. They’d hear all about it at lunch, anyway. Felix can practically _hear_ Chan and Jeongin bickering about the wait already.

Once Seungmin decided that they’ve given Minho enough time to squirm around by himself (they need not see him to know that Minho was a twiddling mess at the moment. Jisung was when he was the one to ask Minho out, and they shared a braincell most of the time, so it won’t be surprising to see Minho pacing around a stoplight.), he bit back a laugh. He can laugh later, when Minho is recounting his experience whilst waiting for them to arrive.

“Hey, guys,” Seungmin started. “is there a bookstore we can go to? I’m out of things to read.”

Felix and Changbin don’t answer. If Jisung answered wrong, then they can intervene.

Jisung had his lips pursed in thought, straw stuck in between his pressed lips. He swallowed a small gulp of his drink before speaking. “Actually, there’s a small bookstore a few streets over. It’s next to that animal shelter Minho and I go to sometimes.”

Changbin smiled smugly. “Great idea, Jisung!”

“Let’s go, then.” Felix chortled as he linked arms with Seungmin.

Jisung eyed Changbin. “You’re weird today.”

Changbin stuck his tongue out at the younger, tone nasally. “Lead the way.”

Seungmin and Felix giggle to each other as they walk behind Changbin and Jisung. Changbin was walking with his hands in his pockets, one of his hands curled around his phone. Jisung was distracted with his almost finished iced coffee and leading his three friends to the street where the animal shelter was.

When they’re only a street away, Changbin begins to walk slower so that he was walking next to Felix and Seungmin instead of next to Jisung, who threw out his empty plastic cup when they passed a trash bin.

“We just have to cross this street.” Jisung said as he stopped in front of the pedestrian lane to wait for the light to turn red so they can cross. He has his back turned away from the street across because Felix decides to squeal, catching Jisung’s attention.

“Aw! Puppies!” he said, eyes on the animal shelter two buildings away from where the pedestrian lane would end after they crossed the street. The building next to that would be the bookstore.

“Cute, aren’t they?” Jisung smiled without turning around to see where Felix was pointing at. He didn’t have to, he knew that the animal shelter let the dogs and cats run around and they could be seen from the window even across the street.

Changbin and Seungmin sighed in relief when Jisung didn’t turn around like they thought he would. Seungmin was ready to kick Jisung’s shin like he did to Minho a year ago just so that the boy would glare at him instead of see who was behind him before the streetlight turned red.

Minho could see him now. He started getting nervous all over again. He hasn’t calmed down but now that Jisung was in front of him, his heart was shaking as it twisted and turned around Minho’s chest. His tongue feels sand-dry inside his mouth and Minho gulps, willing his nerves to be washed away as well.

He almost dropped the megaphone when he saw the four of them round the corner. But now that Jisung was one street away— one red light away— he feels like he’s forgotten all the words he has to recite. Both from memory and from the video Felix had from a year ago, Minho had spent hours making sure he had the right words to say for when the light turned red and Jisung would see him.

_“Lee Minho! I really really like you! Like, I’m coocoo bananas for you! You make me happy like no one else can and I’m standing here right now, giving you the choice to either be my boyfriend or let my heart get run over! So, what’s it gonna be?!”_

Jisung had said it with so much conviction that Minho was star-struck at the time— he still is now; especially since he’s going to do it as well. He remembered thinking that he’d never have the courage to confess to Jisung like that, but now here he is, doing exactly that.

“Jisung, cross.” Changbin said when the light turned red and the cars stopped. Jisung doesn’t notice that Changbin’s hands were out of his pockets now, phone raised up and directed at him and the person on the other side of the street.

As other people passed them to cross the street from both sides, Jisung turned to do so as well, stopping in his tracks when he finally sees what was waiting on the other side of the pedestrian lane.

Something in Jisung’s mind clicks at the recollection of a memory that he’d forever be fond of. The memory that often tugged his mind whenever he and Minho crossed a street together. But it’s different now, it’s not him that was on the other side of the street, it was Minho.

Lee Minho, with a megaphone raised in front of his mouth, and the goofiest smile he’s seen on him since they broke up.

Jisung’s heart stopped at the familiarity of the scene, and then restarted when Minho said words that were all too familiar.

“Han Jisung! I really really love you, like, I’m coocoo bananas in love with you! You make me happy like no one else in this world can and I’m standing here right now, giving you the choice to either take me back or let my heart get run over!”

Minho paused, took a deep breath to steady himself, and Jisung took this as a chance to laugh at the nostalgia of it all. He could see Minho’s glassy eyes from across the street and he was sure that his own were glossy as well.

Minho smiled, voice softer this time but the megaphone made it audible despite the busy street around them. “So, what’s it gonna be?!”

Jisung turned to his three friends and shook his head at them, a big grin on his face as he tittered. “You three are unbelievable.”

He runs across the street after that, throwing himself to Minho’s arms and laughing into his shoulder. He feels arms around his torso and he melts into the touch. Jisung hears his heart pounding in his ears, and with how close he was to Minho, he could feel Minho’s raging heartbeat as well.

“You’re crazy.” Jisung exhaled with a wide smile that shone with love and disbelief and pure _happiness_ that Minho’s heart was having another seizure all over again.

“Crazy for you, baby.” Minho whispered and Jisung laughed again. Minho continued, “I’m sorry we broke up.”

“Let’s never break up again?” Jisung asked as he leaned away enough to raise his pinky finger between them. He could still feel giggles threatening to escape from him; the set-up was just so perfect, how the table have turned.

Did Minho feel this fuzzy when Jisung did it to him? How did Minho not fall to the ground in a fit of childish giggles and red blushes when Jisung spat out that cheezy line to ask him out?

Minho nodded and linked their pinkies together, then brought it close to his lips to kiss Jisung’s finger. Jisung’s eyes close as Minho places a kiss on Jisung’s nose and then his forehead. “Never again. Promise.”

“I love you.” Jisung breathed out as he pressed their forehead together.

Minho leaned forward to place a butterfly kiss on Jisung’s smiling lips. “I love you, too.”

“I’ll be out of the apartment by next week!” Felix yelled from across the street. The three of them were stuck there since the light turned green and cars started to pass through again. Changbin’s phone was still recording the couple across the street, the boy smiling behind his phone as he ended the recording. Seungmin quickly took Changbin’s phone, going straight to their group chat to send the video for the others to watch.

Jisung looked at Minho with wide eyes, not beleiving what he was hearing. He was practically vibrating in Minho’s embrace as he tried to figure out any other reason Felix would say such a thing, only to come back to the same conclusion.

Minho laughed, nodding against Jisung’s forehead. “We have time until we have to meet the others for lunch. What do you say about picking out our first baby right now?”

Jisung was in love. So, so, so deep in love with Minho that he couldn’t even breathe right now. He felt his heart sing with giddy excitement as everything pieced itself together in his mind.

“Lee Minho, I hate you so much for breaking up with me and then sweeping me off my feet like this.” Jisung said with as much fond exasperation that he could muster at the moment.

Minho chuckled and let go of Jisung’s torso to cup his cheeks, squishing them together until Jisung’s heart-shaped lips puckered a little. Minho pecked his lips quickly. “I hate myself for breaking up with you, too, but no way in hell am I letting our would-be child grow up with separated parents.”

“Okay, I didn’t really lie about wanting a new book,” Seungmin commented when the three of them were able to cross the street and reached the (re)new(ed) couple. “you guys go ahead in the animal shelter, I’ll pick something out real quick.”

“Ah!” Felix exclaimed as he glomped the two. “I’m happy for you both!”

“Congratulations, by the way!” Seungmin called over his shoulder as he walked away. “Took you long enough!”

“Look, now we have Minho’s version.” Changbin snickered as he showed his phone, where a paused video was shown on the screen.

Minho groaned into Felix’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you managed to let both of us embarrass us like that.”

“On video, too.” Felix winked cheekily.

“But, babe,” Jisung smiled as Felix let go of them. Jisung prodded at Minho’s arm. “that’s gonna be great for our wedding.”

“Wedding.” Changbin wheezed as he pocketed his phone. “You’re not allowed to talk about that until you manage not to break up on your anniversary.”

“Ignore him, he’s teasing.” Felix dismissed with a smack to the shorter’s shoulder.

“Anyway,” Minho stirred Jisung to the direction of the animal center. “we have to adopt our first child.”

“Jisung! Minho!” they’re greeted as soon as they enter the animal shelter and they both smile widely at the older woman. She understood and softened, smiling brightly at them as she clasped her hands. “I’m so happy you two worked it out. You’re _finally_ adopting, I’m hoping?”

“Yeah, but we won’t be able to take it home until next week.” Minho explained as Jisung wandered off to where the kittens were playing several steps away. “We have to fix up the apartment and stuff.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” she said. “I’m just happy you two are finally going to take one of these angels home.”

“We are, too.” Minho simpered as he watched a squatting Jisung play with the kittens.

“Can you get a dog instead?” Felix asked as he and Changbin looked around the animal shelter.

Minho rolled his eyes. “We already have a dog.”

“Yeah!” Jisung piped in. “He’s next door buying a book.”

* * *

“To Minho and Jisung.” Chan declared as he raised his glass of soda.

“To Minho and Jisung!” the rest chorused before clinking their glasses together. Jisung was laughing into Minho’s shoulder when he saw the glances they were receiving from the other tables.

“Okay,” Chan said as he clasped his hands, still not sitting. Minho and Jisung looked at him in slight confusion whilst the others seemed to know what the oldest was about to say. Chan cleared his throat, and then pointed to the extra plate he asked for when they were ordering. “pay up, losers.”

“What?” Minho and Jisung chorused.

Seungmin, Hyunjin, and Changbin took out their wallets, taking out 10000 won each and tossing it to the plate in the middle of the table. Chan, Jeongin, and Felix snickered as they took a bill each, and Chan finally settled back in his seat, triumphant.

“Excuse me, what’s happening?” Jisung asked as he and Minho still shared a lost look between each other.

“Oh, we bet on when you two will get back together.” Chan explained coyly. “Felix, Jeongin, and I bet that it’ll be a day before class starts up until three days before.”

“I bet it would be a week after break.” Changbin said.

Hyunjin huffed. “I said it would be a week after the break- _up_.”

“I thought like Changbin.” Seungmin shrugged.

“When,” Minho spluttered. “did you make bets?”

Now that he thought about it, he’d find it even more unbelievable if they _didn’t_ make bets at all.

“When we were stuck in Felix’s room listening to you two yell at each other.” Jeongin intoned.

Jisung blinked, and then groaned. “Oh, my god, I forgot you guys were _there_ when it happened.”

He feels his ears heat up. That day is easily one of the worst days in both Jisung’s and Minho’s lives, and finding out about their unknown audience made Jisung want to forget about it all over again. Now that everything was fine and dandy, though, he still wants nothing to do with that day.

Chan chuckled. “Yeah, that was intense.”

“Hey, I wonder...” Jeongin started, directed at Minho and Jisung. “if you two breaking up is going to be a semestrial thing or an anniversary thing.”

Minho narrowed his eyes at their youngest friend whilst he clung onto Jisung’s arm defensively. “It was a _one-time_ thing, thank you very much.”

The table is enveloped in silence as the six exchanged glances. Chan smirked. “It’s an anniversary thing.”

“It’s a semestrial thing.” Seungmin argued, eyes narrowed at Chan for even thinking otherwise.

“Wanna bet?” Changbin challenged, also thinking that it was a yearly thing.

“Oh, let’s do it.” Felix said with a snicker. “It’s a semestrial thing, all the way.”

“Really, guys?” Jisung asked in exasperation. “In front of us? When we _just_ got back together?”

Minho leaned closer to Jisung, whispering in his ear. “How much do you think we’ll get if we bet with them?”

“10000 won, let’s bet!” Hyunjin said.

“Make it 20000, losers.” Seungmin scoffed.

20000 multiplied by six losers equal 120000. Cha-ching.

“Minho!” Jisung hissed.

Minho laughed and rubbed their noses together. “We’ll bet that we won’t break up again.”

“And when will we collect bet money, then?” Jisung asked.

Minho smiled, tilting his head to the side in typical ‘Jisung-can’t-say-no’ fashion. “On our wedding day, of course.”

Jisung mimicked Minho’s smile and turned back to their bickering friends, catching all their attention. “Okay, guys, Minho and I are not missing out on this.”

It was a long-term bet but Minho and Jisung would be damned to give up 20000 won each to their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally done AAAAHHH!!! thank you so so so so so much for reading and reaching the end, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it *^^* I'm going to miss this story hhhh, no matter how many hours I spent just glaring at my screen because of how frustrated I was with redemption arcs but oh well I'll miss those too ㅠㅠ
> 
> don't forget to find me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/markeu_tuan93), [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/water_lili_es), [wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/user/GirlDreamcatcher1123), and [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGfueuIgLVf0o1FNOllA18g)!!! thank you again!!!


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